Lincoln
by xbitemark
Summary: Leeann "Lincoln" Jones was best friends with Melanie. She gets caught and a soul is inserted. Sings Like the Wind becomes attached to all the people that Leeann had to leave behind and decides to do what Leeann never could, find the caves. Will they?
1. Chapter 1 Waking

_AN - Okay, so. This is the first fan fiction I've written, EVER. So, I'm welcome to feedback. Please review so that I know people are reading this and I need to post more. Thanks! -xBITEmark_

_Preface_

I should not have come walking. I was not up for a charade. Doing my best to look calm and peaceful, I turned my collar up against the wind pelting my back. I shoved my hands in my pockets and put my head down, hoping it looked like the wind was bothering me.

"Oops, I'm sorry," I after I bumped into a man carrying a grocery bag. He dropped the bag and I bent down immediately to help pick his items up. "I wasn't watching, the winds so cold! I hope I didn't squish anything."

"Oh, no. It was my fault. I was walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk," He said. We got everything put back in the bag, and departed with a smile. I continued down the sidewalk, trying to get home as fast as I could walking the pace the rest of the centipedes did.

"Leeann Jones?" I turned around.

"Yes?" I asked, searching for the face that had called my name, trying to look as friendly as possible. My heart was thumping in my chest. There was no one left on this Earth that would know my full name besides Russell, and if he was talking then it really was the end of the world.

"Gotcha!" A white cylinder was thrust in my face and a mist was sprayed. I inhaled to ask what was going on, but my thoughts were muddled. Black was tugging at the corner of my thoughts, and I just didn't have to strength to fight it.

"What?" I mumbled weakly. Blackness took over my vision, and I fell into a set of arms.

**Chapter 1 - Waking  
**

_I shouldn't have gone walking. I can feel it. Oh, I just hit that man, act natural. Ha, not natural. Act like a centipede. Who called my name? What's that. Oh no! Not the centipedes!_

_Rustle, rustle, rustle. _I heard the healer rustling around the room. I took a deep breath, filling my new body's lungs with air. I kept my eyes closed, assessing the other senses for a moment. I heard the rustling, and felt sheets under my hands.

My nose tickled, _a smell_, my new memory told me. I breathed it, and my nose tickled again. _A good smell._ This was a new sense. It didn't seem bad to me.

I opened my eyes, and was blinded. I started and shut them again, opening them slowly.

"Good, let them adjust, Sings Like the Wind," a woman's voice said. I opened them and looked at the overly-white room. I looked at the kind woman's face and smiled.

"Hello," I said. This world's natural language felt awkward on my tongue, but flowed freely.

"Hello. I'm your healer, Snowflakes Fall on Ice," she said.

"Ah, a bear?" I asked. She smiled sweetly and nodded.

"I see you were a bear too, what city?" she was looking at a chart, my files, I assumed.

"Crystal Ice Gates," I answered.

"Oh, that was a beautiful city. I visited there once," she said, then the corners of her mouth suddenly pulled down. _A frown_. "A seeker will be in to see you in a moment."

My eyes widened, "A seeker?"

"We believe your body was part of a small human resistance," the healer said and patted my hand soothingly. "You're not in trouble dear."

I sighed and laid back, flipping through memories. There were a lot of friends, some family, some broken bones, just, normal stuff I supposed. Then I found a memory of a friend long after the invasion, was the human word for it. But it sounded to harsh for what we were really doing, we were helping. They were talking about us though.

_"Paul was taken by the centipedes last week. I saw him on one of the news broadcasts," I was telling the girl. __Melanie, my mind grasped. She and I were sitting in a bedroom. Leeann glanced out the window revealing a thick line of green masked by a sheet of rain. Beyond the thick, dark, green hedges stretched the flat, red of the Arizona desert. Her father had been worried about flash floods lately, it was the rainy season.  
_

_"That's horrible. It's everyone!" Leeann-no, I- told her. She buried her face in her hands, trying to mask her tears. Melanie patted her on the back._

_"I know Lincoln, I know." she said. Lincoln? I was Leeann. _

_"It scares me. What if you or I are next?" I asked._

_"I don't know. I just don't know." she said. She sighed. "My uncle had a shelter, he showed the way to my dad once, but I can't remember where it was. He did give me this though," she handed me a picture album with lines etched into the cover._

_"Do you put it on a graph?" I asked. I looked at her puzzled._

_"I don't know," she told me. "I suppose we just have to find out." She went over to my desk and looked through my numerous art supplies. She found what she was looking for, my book of tracing paper, and walked back over to the bed. She tore out a sheet and traced the lines darkly on it. "If I ever find out what they mean," she leaned in and lowered her voice, "I'll find a way to tell you. I want you to keep this somewhere safe. I know it means something, and the day will come when we will have to figure them out." She folded the piece of paper and put in my hands, they were sweaty from the Arizona humidity. _

_"Melano," I sighed and looked at her, tears gathering in my eyes. "Dad said we're moving soon, to the city to be with his sister."_

_Her eyes widened. "You're moving?"_

_"I don't want to, but he's making us. He says that he doesn't feel safe here and that he thinks it will be easier to blend in in Chicago," I told her. I had my suitcases already in the garage, I'm surprised she hadn't noticed. "If anything happens, he said he'd leave a key in the dip on the top of the door. You can use it whenever you want, okay?"_

_She nodded, tears gathering in her eyes too. Russell laid on the bed looking up at us with sad eyes. "Russell doesn't want to leave either," she patted his head. I pulled him into my lap and he snuggled against my stomach._

_"I'm gonna miss you," I wrapped her in a tight hug. She returned it and we sat on my bed crying. _

I opened my eyes when I heard the soft click of short heals walking across a hard surface. I tall, skinny woman that was severely beautiful walked to my bedside.

"Hello, Sings Like the Wind," the woman said. "My name is Petals Stand Tall, or Pat is my human name." She shook my hand.

"Nice to meet you, Petals Stand Tall."

"Now," she sat down and crossed one leg over the other, clasping her hands and resting them in her lap. She had abnormal long, bright, red, fingernails. "We believe that your host may have been in a human resistance before we put you in there," she told me. "Have you found anything that may lead us to where it is?"

"Well," I thought back over the memories I had just explored. "She was in Chicago, with her dad and brother. But they were both caught," I took a breath. "There were some lines, that her friend gave her. To where one resistance was."

"Did they look like this?" she held up a sheet of paper with the same zig-zag lines that Melanie had given me before we left.

"Yes, those are the ones she gave me," I said. The woman put the paper back in her folder.

"That's nothing new. We've been trying to find out what they mean for over a year. Is there anything else, Sings?" she shortened my name. It hadn't seen like such a mouthful in the singing language.

"She ran with her dog…Russell…after her brother and father came home after insertion." I pulled the memories from the back of her head. "She had been to Arizona because that's where the man…she didn't know his name…lived. She couldn't find anything and was headed back here when she got caught. I'm curious, what happened to the dog?" I tacked my own question for the Seeker on at the end.

"The dog is in the animal part of this facility, you can have him back if you wish.. The host's on this planet seem to get very attached to pets. It's perfectly normal for you to want him back," she assured me.

"I would like him back. She was very attached to him," Her - no my - heart ached to see the dog.

"Okay, I'll tell them. Is there anything more?" the way she turned her head illuminated the silver in her eyes, my body cringed at the sight, a leftover reaction.

"No, I'm sorry. That's all there is. She got the lines, from her friend…Melanie. But she never got any more information before she moved."

"Thank you, Sings. Your information is appreciated. If you'll wait here, I'll bring you the dog," she clicked out of the room and a healer took her spot. I hadn't noticed her quietly observing in the corner.

"You're good to go once she brings you Russell, Sings Like the Wind."

"Thank you," I smiled genuinely at her. A few minutes later I heard the clicking oh the Seeker accompanied with the clicking of Russell's nails on the linoleum. I was smiling before they even walked through the door. The Seeker brought him in on a leash, and when he saw me he strained and jumped, barking.

"Sh, boy, sh!" I kneeled down and he was all over me, his butt wagging because he only had a stump of a tail. He licked my face and I laughed at the roughness of his tongue against my cheek. I stood up eventually as the Seeker held out the leash handle for me. Russell was jumping all over me.

"Sit, quiet." I commanded sharply and he sat and stopped barking. He was trained to be on the run. I took the leash from the Seeker, Petals Stand Tall. "Thank you."

"No, thank you," she smiled and led me out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2 Preparations

**Disclaimer: **_I just realized I needed to put one of these in. I don't own the Host, although i wish I did. I don't own any of the characters that you would read about if you picked up a copy of the Host, just mine. Right now, all I own is Leeann, Russell, and the plot I've created. So there you go._

**A/N-**_ Yay for two chapters in two days! I hope that more people will leave reviews for me, I'm having a lot of fun writing this. Like, skipping homework fun. But anyways, this chapter is boring, but I'm working up to the action. It will come soon I promise. Thanks for reading, and drop me a review! Shout out to_ TopKat90! _-bitemark_

_PS. There's some time travel here. Just an explanation: Leeann was captured and Sings was inserted in Chicago, but Sings is now in Arizona. She moved back because that's where all of Leeann's friends were. So she's there now. Mel's and Leeann lived near Picacho Peak...so yeah. She's there. Hope that clears it up some. She just lives in a little town/city.  
_

**Chapter 2 - Preparations  
**

I walked back into my town-house-like apartment, trying to catch my breath. In through my nose, out through my mouth as I pulled the ear buds from my iPod out of my ear and turned it off. I walked over to the sink and got a glass of water, gulping it. This body was tan and strong from running for so long and I felt it a shame to lose that, so I work out when I can.

My boss, Eyes Pointed Toward the North, had made me take a vacation. I hadn't had one since I had started working there about a year ago, right after my insertion.

_"Sings, you need to take a vacation," Dr. North said. I was working at the Institution of Music. My host's background with music and my love for singing carried over from the Singing World, or World of Bats as some liked to call it, had called me to this position. I was a teacher and mentor to upcoming musicians. _

_"But I love my job," I looked up at him from the song I was looking over for one of my students and correcting, they had to many rests for such a fast tempo-ed song. _

_"I know, but even with all the new medicines that we have brought to this planet, the human body still wears down if it doesn't get to rest."_

_"I rest every night," I told him. My memories were so pleasant, I fell asleep quite soundly every night reliving them. _

_"I mean, not working every day. The human body does not react well to stress," he turned to walk out. "You're on vacation next week." Tears came to my eyes and after he was out of the room I slammed the composition book on my desk shut. I picked it up and threw it in my bag, stomping out into the hallway and down to the student boxes. I put all the songs I had corrected into the student's box and stormed out of the building. It wasn't until I was on the sidewalk halfway to my car did I calm down. I still hadn't gotten used to these emotions and was shocked at the childlike raw anger that had taken over. I still wasn't used to this host's emotions and it bothered me. Shouldn't I be used to them?  
_

My eyes re-focused and I came back to reality. These emotions and colors and sights and smells and all the senses were so overwhelming that I got distracted often. I showered and changed from my sweaty workout clothes into some regular ones and decided to take a trip.

I had stumbled upon the memory a long time ago, but it was useless to the Seekers. Leeann had heard on the news of suspicions that there were groups of human resistances hiding in the Arizona desert but had yet to be found; she new it was Melanie. She had tried to find them, but she didn't. I was going to learn from her mistakes, but it would take a lot of preparation. I walked over to the desk I had in my room and picked up the photocopy of the lines I had there. Russell padded in the room and sat a paw on my foot, meaning he wanted to be petted.

I sat on the floor and he jumped up, putting his paws on my shoulder and licking my face. I smiled and scratched behind his ears.

"We're going on a trip Russell," I looked him in the eyes. He was such an intelligent creature, he had been through more than some humans have. I scratched behind his ears and he opened his mouth, his tongue lolling out and panting. He looked like he was smiling. "It's going to be a long trip. But we're going to make it this time."

He barked once and then walked out of the room. My phone rang, and I hauled myself off the floor.

"Hello?" I answered, wondering who would be calling me. All my friends were in my memories.

"Sings? How's your first day of vacation?" Dr. North's voice sounded through the earpiece.

"It's going good. I've been able to get out and run for the first time in a while," I told him cheerfully.

"That's good. I was just calling to check on you." he told me.

"Thank you for thinking of me."

"You're welcome. I'm looking forward to you coming back to work," he told me. I smiled, even though I knew he couldn't see it.

"Good bye," I said and the other line clicked off. I realized I hadn't told him I was going on a trip. It was like I just _knew_ I shouldn't tell anyone. I had heard that the human race had a sixth sense, _intuition_, they called it. I supposed that's what that was. I went into the kitchen, in search for something to eat.

All my cabinets were bitterly bare, I decided that now was as good a time as any to go, I needed supplies for the trip. I walked out of my apartment, locking the door behind me, more out of habit than anything else. No need to worry about theft, but Russell had learned to open the door. I walked down the sidewalk and to the super market.

I walked in and took a basket from the greeter, smiling sweetly. I looked at the list I had made of things I would need. Water, light foods high in carbohydrates, a map, a compass, a big book bag, and some food that would be okay for Russell that wasn't heavy.

I had planned on taking Russell this time because last time, Leeann had left him with a friend, but worried about him. The worry that her friend would get caught and not knowing what they would do with Russell affected her endurance. You can actually get sick from worrying.

I went back to the school supplies first, and looked for a book bag with a lot of space in it. Then it dawned on the that they probably had a camping section. I found it, and a back pack that had a sleeping bag strapped to the top. I put it in my basket and kept on. I walked to the isle with water on it, and looked at all the choices they had. I wondered if I should get a big two gallon jug, or a twenty-four pack of smaller ones. An employee walked down the isle, seeing if anyone needed help. I waved him over.

"Can I help you?" he asked, and I giggled. Of course he could.

"Yes. I'm going on a camping trip for a day, and I'm wondering whether I should get this big two gallon jug to take, or these little ones?" He looked at me, then at the water.

"What I would do, is pick up one of each, and see which one seems lighter. They both have the same amount in them, if you were to take all of the little ones," he told me.

"Oh! That's a good idea! Thank you so much!" I said, and turned to pick one off the shelf.

"You're welcome," he said. I had picked up the two gallon jug, and bowed under its weight. He gasped and helped me catch it. I put it back on the shelf.

"Well, not that one," I said and picked up the twenty-four pack. I could easily hold that in my arms, and wondered if it was more the mentality of it being a bunch of small bottles instead of one big one. "Yes, this is much better, this one it is. Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome…" he left the sentence open.

"Sings Like the Wind."

"You're welcome, Sings Like the Wind. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask," he suggested politely.

"I won't, Ice Beneath the Stars," I read his name tag. He smiled and walked away. I had lied to him. It wasn't a big one, not far from the truth although it startled me that a lie had slipped through my lips so easily, even if it wasn't a big one.

I walked through the isles, wondering what kind of food I should take. Then I stumbled across some energy bars, just what I was looking for. They came ten in a box, so I grabbed four. I figured that if they got a little squished, it wouldn't hurt me. I walked around a little more, picking up some lightweight things that I could feed to Russell, and some of his favorite doggy treats. I got some things to take home, but things that I could just leave in case I didn't come back.

I realized that I wouldn't be able to fit all of this into the back pack and figured that maybe I could get some cargo shorts. I walked back to the camping supplies and looked around. I found a pair of pants that zipped around the knee so they could be pants or shorts, they were perfect. I put them in my cart and decided I had enough, wheeling to the checkout.

_Thanks for reading! This was really slow, but there will be action in Chapter 4, if not the next one. I have to see how it works out. REVIEW PLEASE!_


	3. Chapter 3 The Color of the Desert

**A/N - **_Okay, so there is some action in this chapter! Yay! So, anyway, please review and tell me what you think! Um, I think that's it, along with the regular disclaimer. Oh! There will be fluff in this story, it just hasn't come up yet. And I'm not going to tell you who it's with so HA! Anyways, read and review! -bitemark._

_PS. The asterisks (*) are time travel._

**Chapter 3 - The Color of the Desert  
**

"Going camping?" the woman ringing up my things asked. We didn't use money anymore, but they still had to take inventory.

"Yes," I lied again. It was starting to scare me a little, it seemed so natural. "I'm very excited." I was radiating a fake niceness like Leeann had done in so many of her memories.

"I'm sure you are dear," the woman said as she rang up my last item. I put it in my cart, smiled, and walked out. When I got home, I put the back pack on my back and got all of the bags in one trip. I walked inside and sat them down. Russell did his once over and I unpacked.

I hadn't realized that I had gotten so much. I opened the book bag and started to put the water bottles in it, then took the bars out of the boxes and threw them in the top of the bag. There was a huge front pocket, so I went into my bedroom and grabbed some sweats and a tee shirt and rolled them up and stuffed them in the pocket. I zipped it up and looked at the clock. It was 11:30. I climbed into the bed and Russell settled into his spot beside me. I turned off the light.

"Get some sleep Russell," I told him and patted his head. "We've got an adventure over the next couple of days." He sighed as if he knew what I was saying. I rolled over, and as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep, reliving the memory of everything that went wrong for Leeann.

* * * * * * * * * * *

I pulled into the parking lot of the small diner the was near Picacho Peak. I parked facing the mountain and pulled the sheet with the lines out of my pocket. I traced the first line on the page with my finger, then the profile of the peak with my eyes.

"You ready Russell?" he stared at with me with his big brown eyes and nudged my arm with his nose. I patted his head and got out of the truck, going around to the back and lugging the book bag out of the back of the truck and onto my back, putting Leeann's iPod in the side pocket I could reach. It was heavy, but nothing I couldn't handle. It was noon, the sun was high in the sky. I squinted, my eye adjusting to the glare of the sun bouncing off the brilliant red, the color of the desert. I folded the paper and put it back in my pocket, clipping a leash on Russell. He was sitting patiently, waiting for my command. "Come," he got up and trotted closely to my side.

We walked up the path towards Picacho Peak, Russell's nose all over the ground. It was a long ways to the peak, but eventually we made it. By the time we made it to the base I was breathing hard from lugging the back pack and I was covered in a light layer of sweat. I wondered if I had to climb it, there were some sort of message up there. I shrugged the backpack to the ground and glanced at Russell, who was laying on the ground and panting. I opened the book bag and pulled out the collapsible doggy bowl Leeann had and filled it with water. I tied Russell to a small mesquite tree and set the bowl under it with him.

"Stay, quiet," I commanded and turned back to the peak. I sighed and looked for a foot hole. I found one and tested it's strength, then hoisted myself up. I had made it four or five steps when I lost my footing and slipped. I fell onto a small plateau I had climbed over and tried to stop myself, scraping my hands trying to catch anything I could but still rolled off. I screamed and fell down the rest of the peak, landing on my back at the bottom.

_Bark! Bark! Bark!_ I looked over at Russell, who was straining on his leash to come over to me.

"Quiet, Russell, quite! I'm okay!" I told the dog and laid I hand on my forehead. I looked up, the red ground stretching above me, then an obstruction. I looked up more to see what it was. It was another peak in the distance. I sat up and spun around to look at it better. I pulled the piece of paper to see if it matched any. It matched the third line. I looked to my left, and there was another that matched the second line. I looked to my right, and there was the fourth line. I looked all around me, they were mountain profiles. Leeann had only made it to the first, I was already ahead of her.

I folded the paper and put it in my pocket when I noticed the blood. I looked, my shorts were ripped, along with the skin.

"Ouch, damn it!" I growled. I had forgotten the most important thing, first aid. I didn't want to waste any water to clean it, but I needed to. Russell still had a little in his bowl, so I used that. I cleaned it, it wasn't long, but it was deep and I needed to wrap it. I looked around and didn't see anything. I sighed and took out the extra shirt I had packed. I tied it around my leg and stood up. I turned to pick up my book bag, and saw the energy bars I had in my shorts scattered all over the place. Over half of them were ripped open and crumbled all over the ground.

My mouth fell open as I walked over to where I had landed. There was only one that wasn't destroyed that I could reach, and I wasn't climbing back up there to get the others.

My stomach growled so I opened it and took a bite. It was melted and slightly crumbled, but it would do. I got out a little water bottle and chugged it, I hadn't realized I was so thirsty. I finished the energy bar and unwrapped Russell's leash from the tree and we started off again.

I headed in the direction of the third peak, it was closer and the sun was low in the sky. I wanted to at least make it to the base of number three, as I had decided to call it, for the night. It was a long walk to make in a little time. Russell stuck close to me, I didn't really even need him on the leash, it was mostly for peace of mind. We walked and walked, until my stomach growled again and I realized I hadn't given Russell anything to eat.

I found a bush that gave a little shade and settle us under it. "Lay down," I got his treats out of the book bag and laid some on the ground for him. He snuffed them down and I put some of his food out. I gave him some water, then got my food out. When we finished and had rested some, the sun was almost below the horizon.

"Come on Russell," I grabbed his leash and stood up. "We need to make it to number three before it gets to late." We started walking again as the sun dipped down below the horizon.

It was well past dark when we made it to the bottom of the peak, and I was bone tired and sunburned. Russell was starting to droop, I was worried about him. We had stopped one more time so I could feed him, I was terrified that I was going to run out of food for him before we found the resistance. The temperature had dropped, I was covered in blood, and had twisted my ankle. I gave Russell more water and sat more food out for him while I tied him to another little tree for the night.

I unzipped my sleeping bag from the big bag and laid it out close to Russell so he could curl up beside me. I took out a water bottle and drained it. I laid down and searched for a memory of snow to keep me cool.

_The cold wind burned my eyes and the light powdered snow that was kicked up into my face stinging my cheeks. Melanie was in front of me and I swerved to avoid her, hitting a huge snow bank in the process. I was flung over the top of the sled and face first into the snow bank. _

_"Leeann! Leeann! Are you okay?" Jamie rushed over and started pulling me from the snow. We got my upper body dislodged, and I rolled over laughing. Jamie laughed along with me while I laid in the snow making snow angels._

_Mel made her way over to us, laughing the whole way. She plopped down beside us and made a snow angel beside mine. "Lincoln, that was amazing!" _

_"I try, I try!" I laughed and got up, careful not to mess up my angel. I helped Mel up and we trekked back up the hill._

I relived the memory over and over then eventually fell into an exhausted sleep.

**A/N - **_There you go! Chapter 3 and some action! Wait until Chapter 4! Ooooh yeah! Well, remember to review! Thanks!_


	4. Chapter 4 Part 1

**A/N - **_Okay, so anyways...Chapter 4 comes in two parts... This is what we've all been waiting for yay! And Part 2 is definitely longer, I hope to get that up pretty soon. So review, favorite, or put it under story alerts - just let me know you're reading!_

**Chapter 4 - Part 1**

"Guys! Shut up! You're going to wake it!" _Scuffle, scuffle, scuffle._ I heard the sound of shoes on desert dirt. They were in front of me, surrounding me. Russell stirred and I prayed he wouldn't bark, I didn't know if this was who we were looking for. I barley opened one eye to see four figures.

Against my prayers, he stood up and barked once, so I jumped up and looked around. There were four men, all brandishing guns at me. My breathing sped up and I whipped around, starting to climb up the slope.

"Stop! I will shoot!" I heard the click of a gun but kept climbing. I hoped that I wouldn't lose my footing again. Then I remembered Russell and switched to praying that they would spare him, even if they killed me. "Stop!"

I heard the ring of a gunshot and didn't feel the pain until almost a minute later. My foot burned and hurt in a way I couldn't even describe. I had never been in this much pain before.

"Holden!" A gruff voice said. "Look what you did!"

"I wasn't aiming for it! It moved into the path of the bullet!" Another deep voice responded. I tried to climb back down until I could fall to the ground without seriously hurting myself again. I slid down the side of the mountain, and onto the ground. I looked at my foot, I couldn't move it and there was blood going up to my knee. I was sobbing as I looked at the mess.

"Now we have to take it in," One man walked up to me, and I shrunk back. "No, it's okay," he assured me. "I won't hurt you." He pulled out a small flashlight and shined it in my eye. I could see my eyes reflect onto his face. He nodded and held up a blindfold. "I'm going to put this on you, okay?"

"It's a centipede?" They all sounded gruff, and I winced at the nickname.

I just sat there, and he lowered it over my eyes. I held out my hand. "Russell." The end of the leash was put in my hand and I tried to stand up. Two of the men grabbed my arms and lifted me up, supporting most of my weight. I hopped along, my foot throbbing and burning. Tears were still running down my face and I couldn't stop the whimpers coming from my throat with every step. One of them sighed, and picked up my legs, carrying me. We walked for a while, then I was sat in the back of a car.

"Up, Russell," he jumped in the car and settled in my lap.

"A dog?" One groaned, and the others laughed.

"You remember what Wanda says," one responded. "Kindness." I thanked whoever Wanda was in my head. We rode for a while, then the vehicle stopped. One man got me out this time, and Russell followed. Then I heard his claws clicking on a hard surface.

My ride became more bumpy, as if we were going downhill. I could hear Russell's steps speed up. Then the ride got smooth and I was leaning up against who was holding me more like we were going up a steep hill. I could feel blood from my foot running down my ankle and dripping onto the floor. My muscles were tightening and retightening and it was very painful, I could feel the bullet in my foot.

"Where are we?" I asked. They hesitated, then one stoke up.

"You've found a human resistance," he said. My stomach dropped. I was starting to feel dizzy and lightheaded, and I just wanted to go back to sleep. The adrenaline rush I had had when they found me had disappeared, my brain was sluggish and it took me a minute or two to process all this. I could see light through the blindfold and wondered where we were now.

"Is-"

"Oh my gosh what happened?" I would recognize that voice anywhere. I reached up and ripped off the blindfold to see a group of people gathered around a table, there were lights everywhere. It was a huge group, they were congregated as if they were waiting for something. Then my eyes fell on the two people I had wanted to see since forever.

"Melanie? Jamie?"

"Leeann?" they asked.

**A/N - **_Cliffhanger! I couldn't help it! That's partly why Chapter 4 is in two parts. REVIEW! -bitemark_


	5. Chapter 4 Part 2

**A/N - **_Chapter 4 Part 2 is up! So, I hope you like this...I'm working up to things. I'm trying to take it slow, I don't want to rush things. For me, this story is on a roll. So review and tell me what you think! Okay, well, enjoy! -bitemark_

**Chapter 4 - Part 2**

"Melanie!" I cried and jumped out of the arms that were holding me. I landed on my feet, then crumpled, pain shooting up my leg. "Ouch!" I held my ankle, my hands now covered in blood.

"Leeann? You shot her!" Melanie crouched down beside me and looked up at the guys standing beside me.

"I didn't mean to! It moved into the path of the bullet!" I whipped around to see who was talking. It was a guy about my age, he was pretty good looking. I turned my attention back to Melanie and Jamie, who were getting attacked by Russell.

"Down, Russell," I said and he sat beside me.

"You know her?" A small, blonde woman knelt beside Melanie, who I was smiling at like crazy. I looked at the girl, and silver glinted in her eyes.

"Y-you're a soul!" I said and looked at her in wonder.

"Yes, but that's a story for another day," she told me. Then a man with a bunch of familiar, white cylinders pushed through the crowd that had formed around me.

"Holden, I quite frankly am disappointed in you," he said and sat down by my foot. I looked at the guy that they kept calling Holden to see him turn and walk away, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.

"Here, take this," the man in front of me held out a little rectangle that looked like No Pain.

"Are you a doctor?" I asked quietly. He stared at me with big, brown, trustworthy eyes.

"Yes." I opened my mouth and he set the rectangle on it. It melted immediately, and almost as fast as it melted the pain in my foot and leg disappeared. "I'm going to take your shoe off now," he said and I nodded. He slipped my shoe off and I watched as if this was happening to someone else. I felt exhausted, so I laid back on the ground.

"Wait, don't fall asleep yet," he said. I opened my eyes. "What's your name?" He asked me questions to give me something to do.

"Sings Like the Wind," I said softly. "But everyone calls me Sings."

"Is Leeann there?" Melanie spoke up and put her hand over mine.

"Melanie," the man said sharply. "Not now." I was confused, but I shook it off and propped myself up on my elbows.

"What's your name?" I watched him as he pulled a small, silver piece of metal out of my foot. He dropped it in a small plastic cup and it clinked to the bottom.

"Call me Doc," he told me. "Any other injuries?" I nodded and rolled up my pant leg and untied my shirt from my leg. Doc cleaned it up and put some Heal on that and my foot. Then he put another square on my tongue. A fog was creeping on my brain, and I blinked against it.

"You can sleep now," he told me, and I shut my eyes.

"Russell," I slurred and put my hand out. I fought off the fog until his nose touched my hand, then I slipped into the black creeping on the edged of my mind.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Do you think she's still there?"

"I don't know, she's hard to read." I sighed and moved my head slightly, my neck was sore.

"I think she's waking up."

"She has awesome music on her iPod."

"Mm, you went through my stuff?" I stretched my vocal cords, then my arms, my back and stomach, my calves. Then I flexed my feet and gasped. My eyes opened and looked down at my left foot, which was wrapped up in a brown fabric. Then it all came back to me.

"Well, we ha-"

"Russell!" I called frantically , and he looked up from beside me. I sighed and smiled and patted him on the head. Then I looked up to see who was in the room. Doc was beside me, Melanie and the girl they called Wanda at the foot of the bed, then three of the men that came and got me from the desert, one with my headphones in his ears. An older man with a rifle walked in the room, and I shrank back in the bed.

"How's your foot?" I looked at Doc, reluctant to take my eyes from the weapon, with already having a gunshot wound and whatnot.

"Sore," I said and looked at it. He walked over to it and started unwrapping the bandage.

"The Heal worked nicely, but I think to be safe I'm going to ask you to stay off of it for a while."

"In bed?" the idea disgusted me. He looked at my face and chuckled.

"No," he turned back to my foot and continued to unwrap it. It was swollen and bruised, and there was a pink circle from where the bullet pierced the skin. He looked at it, and went over to the shelf and got a rectangle out of one of the cylinders and held it in front of my mouth while Wanda re-wrapped my foot. "Some more Heal, I don't like the bruise that's still there."

I opened my mouth and he placed it on my tongue. Then he walked over to me with some crutches. "Do you know how to use these?" I nodded and took them, walking a few steps toward the wall, then turned to face everyone else. They were all looking at me. "What?"

"Well, we need to ask you something very important," Wanda stood in front of me, and a very tall, handsome man with bright blue eyes moved back behind her. "But we need to tell you something first."

"I used to be Wanda's host," Melanie cut to the chase and stepped into the picture. I looked between her and Wanda.

"But that…that means that," I back up on my crutches until I hit the wall, "Oh no." My crutches crashed to the floor and I slid down the wall, the rock cutting and biting into my skin while I traced the faint, pink scar on the back of my neck. I looked at all of them with wide eyes. I had heard that adult host's could sometimes take over the body, but I didn't think it was true.

"We can send you to another world. Have you ever been a Sea Weed?" Wanda put her hand on my shoulder.

"No, don't send me to another world! Please. I like it here," I begged. These emotions and memories, the colors and smells, I couldn't live without them. I didn't want to.

"But-"

"Wait!" Doc shoved through. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves!" he looked at me. "Sings, is Leeann still there?"

I looked at him. "Still here? What?"

"Does she ever speak to you? In your head?"

"No?" I had no clue what they were talking about.

"But she has to be!" Mel started tearing up. One of the men behind her took her shoulders and led her off. My eyes started tearing up too. I hadn't come here to make Mel cry.

**A/N - **_Dun dun dun!_


	6. Chapter 5 What's In a Name?

**A/N - **_Okay, so I'm going to go ahead and post this next chapter, since I already have Chapter 8 done (which I'm really excited about). This story is moving really fast for me, and I'm so excited. Please, PLEASE, I'm begging you to just take like, two seconds to drop me a review, even if it just says "I read this". PLEASE! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter... -bitemark_

**Chapter 5 - What's in a Name?**

"Let's leave it at that for a while," Doc told Wanda. He walked out of the room, followed by Wanda and the two men that were on the raid. Russell came over and curled up beside me, laying his head on my leg. I stared at the ground and sniffed, petting Russell absentmindedly. The man with the rifle walked over and sat down beside me. He laid the gun down on the ground and leaned his head against the wall, sitting Indian style. I looked at him curiously.

"Don't worry about Melanie. If little Leeann isn't there, she isn't there and there's nothing you can do about it." he had a thick southern drawl and a long gray beard that swayed back and forth when he talked. I sighed and looked back at the floor, tracing lines that the rock had made long ago. "And since she's moved in with Jared, Jamie has an empty bed. You're going to be bunking with him. I trust there will be no funny business, considering you're a soul and all."

"Jamie?" I asked.

"Yep. I wouldn't let him stay last night, on account of all the blood." he said. "I would have let him but I have a weak stomach and wanted some company." Right then, a tall, lanky, and dark haired figure ran through the door and flung himself at me.

"Leeann!" he hugged me tightly.

"Jamie!" Russell was barking and licking Jamie like crazy. "Looks like Russell missed you as much as I did."

"Jamie here is going to show you where your room is." he told me. "And you can call me Jeb," he tacked onto the end. He got up, picked up his shot gun, and walked out. Jamie helped me to my feet and handed me my crutches.

"Are you still Leeann?" I looked into the eyes of a boy who had been through so much yet was so innocent. He must have been at least fifteen by now. I swallowed. This lie would not come at all, much less easily.

"No," I said weakly and looked at the ground. He placed his hand over mine.

"That's okay," I had to strain my neck back to see him, he was a good head taller than I was. He started walking, and I followed. It was silent, but a comfortable silent, only the clicking of my crutches on the rock breaking the silence. We walked and came to a giant opening that had a big square in the middle with crops growing there.

"How do you get enough light down here to do that?" I was the first to break the silence.

"They all ask that," he laughed. "Mirrors," he pointed up. I looked up to see an intricate design of at least fifty mirrors pointing either this way or that. They weren't giving off to much light now, I saw the moon in a few of the mirrors. "This is were we grow all our food," he flung his arm out displaying the room. I smiled and we continued down a hallway to our right.

"Right now, everyone's eating. I'm sure you're hungry, so we'll go there next," he told me. I nodded. It got darker and darker in the hallway until I could barely see.

"Here, hold your crutches, this will be faster," I felt his arm sweep under my legs and carried me bridal style. It was dark, and I had no clue where we were. I couldn't see a thing and I wondered how he wasn't running into walls. Eventually, I could see the outline of the floor, and he walked a little farther then set me down. I put the crutches back under my arms and he led me into a huge room.

There were a few tables here and there, and they were all packed with people. It reminded me of a human high school. I supposed that they all needed something familiar down here to lean on. I followed Jamie over to a table with food on it, buffet style. I picked up a plate from a stack at the end of the table and ended up getting a roll, a bologna sandwich, and a water. It was a lot of bread. I looked, and Jamie was gone. I turned around and scanned the room for Jamie. I spotted him and tried to carry all my food while on my crutches.

"Here, let me get that," A big tan hand grabbed my food so I could hold onto my crutches. I looked up to Holden.

"Thanks," I said and started walking. Well, more like hobbling.

"Hey," he took one giant step and caught up with me. I fixed my eyes on the table Jamie was at. "Look, I'm sorry I shot you. It's just that, you moved your foot. I was aiming at the rock beside you to try to scare you down."

"That's okay," I looked up into his chocolate brown eyes. One of my crutches caught on the side of a table and I lurched forward. A big hand caught my arm and steadied me before I fell on my face. "Thanks, again," I mumbled and smiled. By that time we had reached the table were Jamie was, and I sat on the end of the bench. Holden sat my food down in front of me. I nodded and smiled, and he sat beside me.

"Okay, Sings Like the Wind, we're going to give you a human name." Jamie announced. I looked over at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we gave Wanda and Sunny one. From their soul names," he said. "Like Wanda. Her soul name was Wanderer, but we call her Wanda. We're all humans down here."

"Wanderer?" I looked over at Wanda with wide eyes. She nodded.

"You've heard of me," she stated rather than asked.

"Of course." I said. "On every one of my planets. You've been to both."

"Oh really? Whi-"

"Okay, okay!" Jamie interrupted us. "We need to figured out a name for her!" he took control of the conversation. "Any ideas?"

Everyone chewed thoughtfully for a few moments.

"Silvia?"

"Cindy?"

"Whitney?"

Jamie got bombarded with names and held up his hands. "Okay, okay. Everyone can submit one name, and we'll take a vote." He went over to the natural rock counter and grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil.

"How about Wendy?" someone said softly behind me. I turned to see Mel standing meekly with a plate of food in her hands.

"That's it! It's perfect," Jamie apparently hadn't sensed the change of the mood in the room. "Wendy. Sings, your new name is Wendy."

"I like it," I smiled. Jamie smiled wide and Wanda laughed.

"Wendy Sings," he said. "Wendy Sings, Wendy Sings, Wendy Sings!"

**A/N - **_PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE._


	7. Chapter 6 Conversations

**A/N - **_Hey! Chapter 6...here ya' go. Anyways...I will probably be posting chapters every few days...I have so many chapters done. I probably need to slow down before I burn out. Okay, so read and review please. Just let me know that you're reading! -bitemark_

_PS. I need to throw another one of these in:_

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own The Host, or any of the characters that would be found in the book. All I own as of now are: Holden, Wendy, Russell, the kids, and my plot line. And Wayne, I think. I can't remember if he's in the book or not. If he is, I don't own him. But anyway, enjoy!_

**Chapter 6 - Conversations**

"Thanks," I breathed and Jamie sat me down on the mattress. I really didn't like being carried, but sometimes it was just necessary. Jamie had picked up on that and let me walk as much as I can see until I can ditch the crutches and hang close to the wall. Jamie may have been young, but he was experienced. He had an "old soul." I spotted my extra clothes, Russell's food, and my bag laying at the foot of my bed.

"No problem, I'll just, step out so you can change into your pajamas," he said and stepped back out the door. I smiled. I was cleanly bathed, Wanda had helped me in the bathing room. I was thankful that there were other souls here, even though I came for Mel and Jamie, it was different. I didn't know how, it just was. I had the feeling that Mel hated me. I slipped into my pajamas quickly so I wouldn't keep Jamie waiting.

"Okay, Jamie!" I called and he stepped back in the room. He laid down on his bed and looked at the ceiling. It was late, it had been a long day. "So, how did you find me?" I broke the silenced and asked the question that had been burning on my mind all day.

"Well, the mountains zig zag back and forth over the caves so we can watch out for anyone coming. But you took a shortcut, most don't do that. That confused us a little. We thought you were a Seeker, and that's why they took guns. They usually don't do that," he said.

"Well, the third was closer," I said. He laughed.

"My turn for a question." he sat back up and looked at me.

"Okay."

"How did you know to come here?" I thought about that question before I answered.

"Well, before I - well, Leeann - moved, Mel gave her some lines like your uncle had given her," I told it in past tense, I had figured out that human's didn't like when you used the possessive form of the body when you were talking about someone they loved. "And she had tried to find you guys and turned back. I learned from her mistakes."

"Interesting," he said and laid back down. "Well, it's late. We should get some sleep." He laid back, and I knew it wouldn't be the end of that question. If not from him, it would be from someone else.

"Okay, goodnight," Russell curled up by my side and I pulled the covers up to my chin. Eventually I heard Jamie's even breathing and occasional snore, and I drifted into sleep also.

* * * * * * * * * * *

I woke up to sunshine shining in my face from some cracks in the ceiling and wondered how late it was. I was tangled in the blankets and covered in a think layer of sweat. I ran my fingers through my hair in vain, trying to tame it. I hadn't had any sort of styling products like I had at home, so it hung long and curly down my back. I looked around and yawned, wondering where everyone was. I changed into my clothes from yesterday that smelled cleaner than they had.

I grabbed my crutches and ventured out into the hallway. I was using my crutches like blind humans used to do before blindness was cured. I didn't know where I was going, but eventually I made it to one of the big fields. Everyone was working, except for Wanda and Sunny who were bringing water bottles into the room from another tunnel. I walked over and stood at the mouth of the cave for a while, watching.

They had a perfect little system. Three of the men went first. One, digging up the soil, the next flipping it over, and the third chunking it up. Then a few women came behind them, making holes with sticks. Then more people came behind them, putting a few seeds in each hole. Then about two more people covered up the holes, and one came after and watered the newly planted seeds.

"Wendy!" I hadn't noticed Jamie in the mix, but he was one that covered up the holes.

"Hey Jamie," I called when he got a little closer. He walked over and wiped sweat off his forehead. I wrinkled my nose and he laughed.

"It's hot in here!" Jamie complained.

"I know," I said, and sat my foot on the ground gently, my leg was tired from holding it up. I should probably go see Doc soon. "What are you guys doing?"

"The rainy season's almost here. And it's almost the summer. We're planting," he told me. I looked around.

"If someone had told me, I would have gotten up. I could probably find something to do around here," I said. Jamie looked at me, then around.

"Not on crutches," he told me, then looked over to one corner pointedly. "Russell took your spot today. He's keeping the kids occupied so everyone can work." The kids had a rubber ball and were bouncing it against the wall, laughing when Russell tried to catch it. "Doc told us to let you sleep in, that sleep will help your foot."

"Speaking of Doc," A handsome man with clear green eyes walked up to me. "Doc asked me to escort you to his office, he'd like to see you." I looked at Jamie and he nodded. "I'm Jared, by the way," the man added. I nodded.

"I'm Wendy," I used the new human name I had been dubbed with. I walked forward and through Jamie and Jared and towards another random tunnel.

"When it gets dark, just carry her. But she's like Wanda and likes to do as much as she can by herself," I heard Jamie murmur quietly.

"Hah, I figured," Jared said back and called to me. "Wendy! This one!" I turned around to see him pointing to the tunnel beside the one I had come out from. I blushed and wobbled over to the tunnel he was pointing at. "Get back to work," he teased Jamie and smiled. I went down the tunnel and heard Jared's feet padding softly behind me. Eventually, I couldn't see a thing and slowed down. A strong arm knocked me off my feet and caught my back, carrying me down the hall.

"Thanks," I held my crutches so that he wouldn't trip over them.

"No problem," he said. "It takes everyone a while to know where everything is." I could see light streaming in from Doc's 'office', and Jared set me down. I clicked into the mouth and stopped, Doc was talking intensely to someone.

"We have to stop taking in souls, we've got too many people down here. We're running out of sleeping rooms, and humans are just more important in this war."

"We're working on making more sleeping areas, Sharon, and this is not a war. Melanie knew this girl. If one of your friends came, we would take them in too. And it's not like we're running out of supplies with Wanda going on raids now. We've got more than ever."

"But Melanie's friend isn't even there. Why don't we just ki-"

"Knock, knock!" Jared said suddenly and loudly, and I jumped. The woman and Doc jumped and whipped around, and the woman glared at me. I didn't flinch away from her glare like I usually would. She walked past me and out of the room, and I looked down. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry about her," Jared said. Doc walked over.

"Hey, Wendy," he said. Jamie must have spread the word about my new name. "How's your foot feeling?"

"Not bad. It's just a little sore, but nothing too bad." I told him and set it on the ground so I could stand up without the crutches. They were making my arms sore.

"Come sit over here," he gestured to a chair behind his desk. I took a seat and he unwrapped my foot. There was no bruising anymore, just a pink circle where the bullet went in my foot. Doc looked at it and nodded. "It looks good. I think you can leave the crutches here, but still take it easy." he told me. He gave me yet more Heal and No Pain and put my crutches back in their place. He put some gauze around my foot just to be sure and sent me on my way.

"Thank you, for everything," I told him. He smiled and nodded. I got up and walked over to where Jared was standing, I needed him to lead me back to the fields. It was odd, walking on my leg after being on crutches for two days. I was limping slightly as I followed Jared out of the room and into the tunnel.

**A/N - **_OOOOOOHH! So anyway, review! FOR COOKIES! Well, virtual cookies anyway. _


	8. Chapter 7 Hand to the Wall

**A/N - **_Hey guys! So I figured I would go ahead and post the next chapter. I have like, two people reviewing, but a lot of traffic. Please review guys! I know it's really annoying but I need support! So anyways, enjoy this chapter. I'm really excited about Chapter 8. Just a little incentive, the title is: Storytime._ _So only one thing that could mean!-bitemark_

**Chapter 7 - Hand to the Wall**

"It will be easier to learn the tunnels if you walk with your hand on the wall," Jared told me when it got dark. I held my hands out in front of me until I came to the wall, and trailing my hand as I walked. For a while, we walked in silence and I paid attention to all of the cracks and bumps in the rough wall.

"Who was that woman with Doc?" I finally broke the silence, my voice echoing down the hallway, repeating my question over and over.

"Sharon," if I could see his face I 'm sure his teeth would be clenched.

"Why do you say her name like that?" I asked. I was still trying to catch on to things around here.

"She's a little slower accepting…people than the rest of us. It gets annoying, especially when they're good, " he said. I made a face when a rock bit into my hand. My palm felt raw.

"You mean she takes longer to accept souls?" I corrected. I just knew that's what he meant.

"Pretty much," I could picture him nodding in my head. Eventually we made it back into the huge room with the square field in the middle. The people working in the field had almost made it to the middle of the field. I looked over and Russell was still playing with the kids. I made my way over there, and he ran over barking.

"Hey boy! Having fun?" I asked and petted him. The kids ran over to me.

"We got to feed him and give him water!" one said.

"I got to pour his food!"

"I got to pour the water!"

"Wanda helped us!" they all were talking at once, I tried to catch it all. The ball rolled over to my foot. I picked it up and Russell barked.

"Do you want a turn?" a little girl with curly blonde hair asked me.

"Sure," I said and threw the ball against the wall. Russell barked and ran to chase it.

"What's your name?" she asked me and looked up at me with big blue eyes. I couldn't help but smile, she was such a beautiful and innocent little child. I felt sad that she was born into such a world.

"Wendy," I told her. She smiled.

"I like that name. And your hair. Can I play with it?" I smiled even wider at her and sat on the ground in front of her so she could reach my hair.

"Sure. And thank you. What's your name?" I asked as she played with my hair, braiding it and unbraiding it, then putting it in a bun, then a pony tail, and other things I couldn't tell.

"Katie," she told me.

"That's a very pretty name," I told her. She giggled and continued playing with my hair. Eventually another girl came over and sat down in front of me. Her hair was fastened with a polka dotted bow.

"Wendy, do you know how to braid?" she turned around and asked.

"I sure do. Do you want me to braid your hair?" she nodded and turned around, so I took her hair down and put a French braid in her hair. I fastened it at the end and she felt it.

"Thanks," she said and sat in my lap while Katie continued to play with my hair and we watched the other kids play with Russell. He was having a blast, and eventually Wanda and a guy came over with waters and Russell's bowl.

"Hey kids!" the man boomed and they all turned towards him, running over to him.

"Ian!" they all yelled and jumped all over him. He fell on the ground and let them climb all over him.

"Okay, okay," he laughed. "Water break time." They all sat on the ground and Wanda handed water to them and poured some in a bowl for Russell. I got up and walked over there, limping slightly. When I got over there, Katie pulled on Ian's shorts.

"Hey kiddo," he looked down at her and messed up her hair.

"Wendy needs some water," she told him matter-of-fact-ly. He looked over at me and laughed.

"Well," he tossed a water at me. "I suppose she does now doesn't she?" I thanked him and took a sip, looking at all the kids. This was almost like a day care, and I wondered how many of them were born down here. They finished their water break and were getting ready to go back to play with Russell, who was lying down with his tongue out of his mouth.

"Are you like Wanda? A soul?" Katie turned to me suddenly and asked.

"I am." I looked at her. She turned all the way around so she was facing me.

"Will you tell us a story?"

**A/N - **_So, there you go! REVIEW! _


	9. Chapter 8 Storytime

**A/N - **_Okay, so I think this is my favorite chapter so far. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed watching it. Don't forget to review! -bitemark_

**Chapter 8 - Storytime**

"Sure," I told her, they all circled around me. Katie sat in my lap and all the others crowded so close they may as well have been in my lap. I looked around. "Do you want a story from the Singing World, or the Ice World?"

"Singing!" a majority of them yelled. I smiled.

"Singing it is." I declared. "Well, on the Singing World, everyone is a bat. But not like the bats on Earth. These bats are pretty, with feathery wings and soft fur all over their body. They're all different colors of the rainbow - pink, purple, blue, yellow - even some colors that don't even exist here on Earth. The bat's can't see, because they're bats, but they can sing. The speak a language you've never heard and have the prettiest voices you've ever heard."

"Even prettier than Cinderella's?" one little girl asked. I nodded and her eyes widened.

"Even prettier than Cinderella's voice. They sing songs about what it would be like to see, and about flying, and all sorts of good things.

"Then one day, there was a bat that could see. Her name was Sees What We Sing About. She described the world to all the other bats. What the planet looked like, what the bets looked like, what the whole universe looked like. She traveled all over the world singing to the bats about where they lived, and what they looked like. Bats would come from all over just to here her sing.

"Sees sang about the plants that were a dark shade of green, and that had big, fat leaves that were held up by skinny stalks, some so high that the weight of the leaves bent them. She sang about the blue waters that moved with the wind and with all the moons of the planet that held all the fish. She sang about all the moons, at least fifty, that hung high and white in the sky amongst all of the stars that shared the night. She sung about the huge orange sun, and how it burned hot in the day, but was a cool blue when it set over the horizon.

"Then one day, Sees woke up and couldn't sing. She couldn't make any noise at all, she had lost her voice. The only way to get back her voice was to give up her sight. It was the hardest decision she had ever had to make. She didn't know what to do. If she gave up her sight so she could sing to the other bats again, she wouldn't be able to tell them what the world looked like. But if she didn't get her voice back, she wouldn't be able to sing again.

Then one day, Sees met a very handsome bat named Voice of Chimes who had heard of her problem. He was willing to give up his voice to her if only she would kiss him. She agreed, and he gave her his voice. She kissed him, like she said she would, and when she did, she fell in love. She lived happily ever after with Voice, traveling all over the world to sing. Voice never sang again, but he was always happy to listen to Sees sing about what she saw."

I looked at all the kids, and they were all staring off into space, imagining what I had just told them. It surprised me that the story had come so easily, since none of it had been true. The bats weren't different colors, they looked almost identical to bats on Earth, just larger. Some of it was the truth, but the majority wasn't. The bats couldn't see, they couldn't lose their voice, and they couldn't give their voice to another bat.

It was then that I noticed all the adults were standing around listening. They were also a little spacey, trying to picture what I had told him. Then I caught Wanda's eye and she smiled at me. I blushed, she, of course, knew what the world was like and knew I had been lying. I turned my head to see Holden staring straight at me, his arms over his chest. I turned even more red and looked away.

"Time for dinner kids," Jeb's gruff voice sounded over everyone's thoughts. The kids got up and ran down one of the tunnels. I stood up a noticed Katie standing, waiting for me.

"Are you going to eat dinner Katie?" I looked around and noticed all the adults had returned to their jobs. I looked back down at her.

"Will you come with me?" she asked.

"Okay," she held out her hand and I took it. "You might have to show me through the tunnels, I still don't know them yet." She giggled and we started down the tunnel, she was ecstatic about showing someone around. She led me down the tunnel and into the kitchen, then ran over to get a plate and sat down beside Holden.

He was so sweet to her, and all the other children, but he paid more attention to Katie. I stood slightly in the door off to the side, and got to really look at Holden for the first time. He had crystal green eyes lined with thick lashes, a chiseled nose, a full mouth and a sharp jaw line. His hark was a dark brown and was messy, in a good way, and thick eyebrows. He had broad shoulders and thick biceps and forearms with wide hands on the end.

"Katie is Holden's niece," I jumped and turned to see a woman with salt and pepper gray hair and trusting blue eyes standing behind me. I smiled and turned back to watch Holden and Katie. "Katie was Holden's sister's child. She was taken as a host a while back. He found this place and brought Katie with him. She's such a sweet child, Holden treats her like his own. He promised his sister that he would take care of her, and he kept that promise. If anything harms a _hair_ on that child's head, it's good as well dead."

"How old is Holden?" I asked. She motioned for me to follow her over to one of the counters where there was a big blob of dough.

"Wash your hands," she pointed to a big bucket with water in it. "You don't need your foot for this kind of work." I followed her directions and walked over beside her and watched as she cut the giant lump into two smaller ones and placed one in front of me. "Knead."

I did and looked over my shoulder at Holden.

"How old is he?" I asked. She smiled at me.

"He's a very handsome little thing. I can see why your interested in him." I blushed and looked back down at my bread, concentrating on punching into the bread, then folding it over itself over and over and over again. She reminded me of Leeann's grandmother. "But he's about twenty-three or twenty-four, pretty close to your age if I'm correct." I nodded.

"How did he get here?" I asked.

"I think Ian gave him the lines, they're cousins but they act like brothers. Kyle, he's out on a raid right now, but you'll meet him when he comes back, found him in the desert on a sweep. Poor thing, had barely eaten or drank anything for almost a week, sacrificing himself for Katie." It never ceased to amaze me how one race could be so selfish but yet so selfless at the same time. "But Katie likes you, so you don't have anything to worry about. She's got him wrapped around her little finger."

"Oh really?" I jumped and turned around, dropping the dough on the counter, to see Holden staring down at me. I was absolutely horrified.

**A/N - **_Don't forget to review!_


	10. Chapter 9 Caught

**A/N - **_Okay, here's Chapter 9! Enjoy! Be sure to tell your friends about this story and get them to read it...and review! So anyways, enjoyyyyy! -bitemark_

**Chapter 9 - Caught**

"Holden!" Lily scolded and popped a towel at him. He covered his stomach and dodged her blow. "Don't you know not to sneak up on an old woman! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, Lily. Just wanted to know what the girls were gossiping about. I'm glad you can read people so well," he laughed and teased. She laughed and hit him again, turning back to her dough and leaving me by myself, trapped between Holden and the counter. "I don't think I've properly introduced myself. I'm Holden."

He stuck out his hand and I took it. It was rough and callused from a long time of hard work. His hand was huge and engulfed mine, gripping tight. I shook his hand and smiled. "Wendy. Even though I think Jamie already told everyone."

"He did," Holden laughed. "Well, I'll leave you to your work." He flashed me a smile as he turned, his teeth were perfectly straight and white. I watched him follow the kids out of the kitchen. I turned back to the counter and stole a glance at Lily who was smiling at me. I went back to concentrating on my bread. After a while she stopped and so did I.

"Now, we put them into little rolls like this and leave them to rise," she said. She broke off a chunk that was about the size of her fist and rolled it into a ball, then set it on a wooden slab by the huge stove they had in a pit in the floor. When we were done, we had filled up the wooden slab. I held out my hands, they were sticky and covered in dough. I walked over to the basin and washed off my hands.

"Hey, Wendy!" I turned around to see Jamie at the door of the kitchen. "We're playing soccer, you want to join?"

"Sure, why not?" I walked over to him, "Do you think anyone has a pair of shorts I could use?" I was currently wearing the pair of shorts that I had come in; cargo pants weren't the best choice of pants to run around in.

"Mel probably does," he said, and walked out of the kitchen, leaving me.

"Wait!" I laughed and caught up to him. "Don't leave me I'll get lost!" he laughed and grabbed my wrist, tugging me along behind him. We went down numerous tunnels and rooms, until we came down a hall that had a curtain or door hanging every couple of yards which I recognized as the bedrooms. Jamie pulled me about halfway down the hallway and then stopped in front of a pink curtain with little purple flowers on it. He gestured towards the door and walked away.

"Melanie?" I called meekly and tried to peek in the room.

"Come in," I pushed aside the curtain and slipped in the room. Melanie was standing facing the wall, putting her hair up. She turned around to see who had come in. "Oh, hey. What's up?"

Her sudden mood change caught me off guard, I suppose she just needed some time to recover from her friend being gone. "Do you have some shorts I could borrow for soccer?" I stood just inside the door.

"Yeah," she walked over to a box that was on the floor and sorted through it, eventually pulling a pair out and throwing them at me. "There, try those."

I took them and changed into them, and was about to walk out when Mel stopped me. "Wait, Wendy. Look, I'm sorry about the way I acted the other day. I just-I just thought that she would still be there. But she's not, and I've accepted that. So, I'm sorry." She finally looked and me and I smiled at her. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her. She returned the hug and laughed. "Anyways, I'm really not that bad. Of course, you probably know that. Need a hair bow?" I laughed and took it, just glad that she didn't hate me.

I put up my hair and we walked out of the hallway. She walked down the hall with quick sure, strides while I struggled to keep from running into the walls.

"You coming Wendy?" Mel called.

"I'm trying not to run into walls!"

"Where are you?" I felt her hands on my arm.

"Right here," I said and she pulled on my wrist. We walked down the hall and into a room that smelled of sulfur. I looked around. There were lanterns everywhere, it looked to be over a hundred. They were hung in the ceiling at equal intervals, and two at each end of the room marking the goalposts. There were a bunch of people in the middle of the room, some stretching and some just standing around. I saw Holden, Ian, Jared, Jamie, Wanda, Jeb, Doc, and Sharon of the people I knew.

"Who are all these people?" Ask whispered to Mel.

"That's Kyle and Sunny, they just got back from a raid with Wayne and requested this soccer game. Then there's Maggie, she's Sharon's daughter, then there's Brant, Andy, and Aaron." She pointed to everyone and I nodded.

"Okay guys!" Wanda called over all the noise. "Anyone who's playing, over here!" Mel and I walked over. There were fourteen of us, seven on each team.

"Whose going to be captain?" Kyle boomed.

"No one. I'm going to put everyone on teams so it will be fair," she told him. "Okay, over here" she pointed to her right. "Mel, Wendy, Ian, Jared, Aaron, Jeb, and Doc. And on the other side: Kyle, Holden, Brant, Maggie, Jamie, Andy, and Wayne."

"Alright!" Kyle high-fived Wayne and ran over to their side. I walked over to our side with the team and we all stood in a huddle.

"Okay," Doc said and clapped his hands. "Who's playing what?"

"Jared, Wendy, and I on offense!" Melanie called.

"Okay, what else?"

"I'm goalie," Jeb said and took a step back.

"I'll be halfback," Ian said.

"That leaves you and me for defense, that okay?" Doc said to Aaron and he nodded. We all went to our positions and waited for the other team. Holden stood opposite to me in offense. He looked at me and smirked.

"Get ready for a beat down," he sneered and took a half step forward.

"You underestimate me," I told him and smiled. He raised and eyebrow.

"Oh really?"

"Watch and learn." I told him and looked over. Our team had won the coin toss and had the ball first. I smiled at him and looked over at Wanda.

"Okay, let's play!" she called clearly over the field and blew a whistle, starting the game.

**A/N - **_Okay, there you go! Review? Please?_


	11. Chapter 10 Soccer

**A/N - **_Yay for good old soccer! So, I've kinda got writers block, and have been super busy lately. I'm trying to put aside some time to write but sometimes it doesn't work out. So, anyway, enough about me. Enjoy! -bitemark_

**Chapter 10 - Soccer**

Jared tapped the ball swiftly to Mel and I took off, shooting past Holden. Mel weaved through player after player, and went to pass if off the Jared. He was a little farther back, so I backtracked on the field a little. Wayne ended up stealing the ball and passing it to Holden, which brought him face to face with me.

I smiled as he stood with the ball, scoping out the playing field out of the corners of his eyes. I took the opportunity of him being half distracted to fake with my left foot, which caused him to kick the ball to the right, which was exactly what I wanted.

I caught it with my right foot and shot it past him, taking it down the field. I dodged in and out of people until I got within reasonable distance from the goal and took a shot. It shot past the goalie and it rebounded off the wall. Mel threw her hands in the air and ran over to me, slapping her hands against mine. I laughed as we ran back to centerfield.

"Yeah, Leeann!" she said as we took our positions again. I was startled by her calling me Leeann and figured that she was just caught up in the moment. I brushed if off and concentrated on the game. Kyle tapped the ball off to Holden and he took it past me and into our defense. Ian, Doc, and Aaron swarmed, and he passed it off to Kyle. He shot at the goal and Jeb blocked it with a painful sounding _thump_ and threw it down field to Melanie and me. We fell into a rhythm that had been defined long ago in our back yards. We passed back and forth until we got to the goal and Mel took a shot, only for Maggie to catch it and throw it down the field. By this time, I was out of breath and the weak muscles in my leg were burning.

I suddenly saw the ball coming towards me from Jared's pass and took control. I dribble downfield to see Holden draw up beside me, breathing as hard as I was. He whipped around in front of me and kicked the ball, tangling our feet and sending us both to the hard rock floor. He fell back and I fell on top of him as he laughed. His hands were holding onto my waist and he stared into my eyes, my face growing redder and redder by the second. He pushed me gently to the side as I rolled to the ground and tried to catch my breath.

"Okay, okay. Time out!" I called and put my hand on my sweaty forehead. I laid on my back, taking big gulps of air until I could breath comfortably. I looked around, and everyone was in similar positions. Holden was laying right beside me, some were laying on the other side of the field, and some were standing with their hands on their heads still breathing heavily.

I groaned and sat up, a little dizzy from breathing so hard. I rubbed my legs, which were a little sore and slowly stood up. Holden had sat up, and I held out my hand to him. He took it and stood up, but didn't put any weight on my hand.

"I did underestimate you," he smiled at me and I laughed.

"You sure did." My stomach flipped as I started into his clear green eyes. He smiled at me and turned around.

"Okay," Jeb called. "I think that's enough for one night!"

"I agree," Jared said, and took Melanie's hand. I looked over and Ian was standing with an arm around Wanda. I hadn't noticed all the couples down here before.

"Everyone is with everyone," I looked and Holden was standing with his mouth right at my ear. "It's kind of gross sometimes, really."

"Who's with who?" I looked at him. He started walking down the hall and I followed so he would answer my question. I was prying, it was odd to me. I used to have access to any information I wanted since souls did not keep secrets, but humans were different. It was difficult.

"Well, Kyle is with Sunny. Ian with Wanda, and Jared with Melanie," he laughed. "Look at me, gossiping like an old woman."

I smiled and continued to follow him down the hallway. "Who are you with?" I hoped I didn't sound two obvious.

"Katie's the main woman in my life," We had ended up in the kitchen to see Lily and Trudy with a huge plate of burgers and fries on the counter, and the were dishing out more! I looked over the wonderful food and smiled.

"Wow, look at all of this!" People from the soccer game were filtering in and getting food.

"Well, come on!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the food. I grabbed a plate and put a hamburger on it, piling it with french-fries. I went to the table and saw down. "Whoa! Wendy _almost_ has a Jamie sized portion!" Ian teased. I looked at him.

"What?" I asked.

"Kyle always gets the most food out of everyone. Just look at how much he has when he sits down. But Jamie comes in at a close second," Mel told me and laughed. I looked around and spotted Kyle at the counter with two plates in his hands and Sunny hanging off one of his arms that was as big as she was. She was looking up at him smiling, and every once in a while he would look down and smile at her with a gentleness I didn't think he was possible of after watching the fierceness in his eyes while he was playing soccer. He sat down and I looked at his plate. My mouth fell open. He had two burgers and enough fries to feed Russell and I for a week! Thinking of Russell, I wondered where he was.

"Um, does anyone know where Russell is?" I asked and looked around the room.

"He's with the kids," Sunny said. She was a short, thin girl with huge eyes and dark hair and a very high pitched, almost squeaky voice. "They've adopted him."

I laughed. "He loves kids." Mel smiled at me with a dazed look, no doubt remembering times from before the invasion. There was idle chit chat during dinner about the soccer game, and Wayne and Kyle told us about their raid. After dinner I stood up and looked around, brushing my hands on my shirt. I spotted Holden walking out of the room and ran to catch up.

"Hey! Holden!" he turned around. "Wait up!" I caught up to him, and we started walking. "Do you know where the kids are? I should pick up Russell."

"I was just headed down there. Follow me," he said. We went through numerous twists and turns, going through rooms I had never seen before. I took note of where we were going so I would know next time.

"Where are we going?"

"Well, it's pretty late, at least for the kids anyway. The older women that are here like to take care of them, so they put them to bed in one room and we come to pick them up as we can," he told me. We came to a room and he motioned for me to be quiet and we made our footsteps lighter. We came to a doorway and I stopped, looking at the children.

"Were they all born here?" I asked. He looked at me, then back at the room.

"Four belong to Trudy, she had three before she came and was pregnant with one, although she didn't know it at the time. Katie's with me, then Shannon's with Wayne, she's his little sister. Then the other two are with Andy," he smiled, "A lot of men brought them here and didn't know what to do. The women just kind of took over."

He padded softly over kids and picked up Katie gently and carrying her back into the hallway. I called to Russell softly and he padded over to me, and I picked him up, cradling him in my arms. Holden was adjusting Katie's head on his shoulder as I fell into step beside him.

**A/N - **_Hoped you enjoyed! Don't forget to reveiw!_


	12. Chapter 11 Hairdresser

**A/N - **_Hey hey hey! Well, there is a reference to Twilight in this chapter, for those who have read the book. Extra points if you find it! Review me if you do! Good luck! LOL! -bitemark_

**Chapter 11 - Hairdresser  
**

We ended up in the rooming hallway, as I had nicknamed it, and he stopped beside his room, I assumed. Jamie's and mine was still a ways down the hallway.

"Goodnight," he whispered and shifted Katie in his arms.

"Goodnight," I responded and took a step towards my room.

"Hey wait!" He said. I turned and looked back at him.

"I well, I was wondering…if Katie wants her hair done in the morning, can I send her to you? I would send her to Mel or Wanda, but they stay with Jared and Ian and I wouldn't want her to walk in on anything they might be…doing," he asked and gazed at Katie.

"Of course," he flashed a grin at me. "Just send a brush and a hair bow with her."

"Thanks so much," he cradled her in one arm and brushed a stray lock behind her ear. "I try but I can never do fix it as nice as her mom. She misses her so much." My throat closed and ached like it did before I cried. This child's story broke my heart. He ducked in his room and I continued down the hallway.

When I walked in the room, Jamie was passed out on his bed, tired from the soccer game. I smiled, my muscles starting to ache. I decided to go take a bath in the bathing room…and I needed to think. I grabbed my pajamas, the towel, toothbrush, and toothpaste I was graced with a few days after I had gotten here and headed toward the south tunnel.

I stepped into the warm water in the pitch darkness and waded until I was up to my waist then ducked under the water. I ran my hands through my hair a couple of times and washed myself. I sat down and let my mind wander back to the conversation I had overheard between Sharon and Doc. I ran my hands through the water, making it splash.

"Why don't we just kill her?" she was about to say. I figured it would happen, I actually hadn't expected them to accept me so fast. I wondered what would happen, it only takes one to kill.

Why did she dislike me so much? It's not like I had killed anyone, or hurt one of her family members. Then it dawned on me, that's just it. I had. I had killed a human, and to her, that was the same thing as killing a family member. The surviving human race was one big family and not only had I killed one of them, the others had accepted me as part of the family. No wonder. I was a killer.

A sob broke through my chest as I bolted out of the water and into my pajamas, picking up my things and running out of the bathing room. I quieted my sobbing in the hallway to silent tears as I walked into out room. I ran the brush angrily through my hair and curled up on my bed with Russell snuggled to my side. He was so caring and accepted me the moment he laid eyes on me. I wondered if he had noticed any changes in who he thought was Leeann. I drifted off in a troubled sleep with tear stains on my cheeks.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Wendy? Wendy," there was a small hand on my shoulder shaking me slightly. I opened my eyes to see Katie standing over me with a brush in her hand. "Can you do my hair?"

"Of course," I sat up and wiped the sleep out of my eyes. She handed me what she had brought: a hairbrush, a hair bow, and a mirror. I propped the mirror against the wall and had her sit in front of me. "What do you want?" I brushed her hair and flipped it over her shoulders.

"Do you know how to French braid? That's how my mom used to do it," she whispered.

"Sure," I said, and started working. I put a braid in her hair and tied the bow in her hair to secure it. She ran her hand down it and looked in the mirror.

"Thank you Wendy. It looks just like how my mommy used to do it," she told me and smiled at me. "Will you come back to my room and tie a bow in it?" I nodded and she took my hand leading me down the hall. We walked to the room Holden had turned into the other night, and Katie pushed the curtain aside. Holden was sprawled out on the bed, and half on the floor. One arm was under his pillow, the other sprawled out; one leg was bent at the knee and the other was straight. He was drooling, and his hair was an absolute mess. I couldn't control my giggling.

"Does he look like that every day?" I asked.

"Yes," Katie giggled with me as I followed her over to a small, pink dresser. She opened the top drawer that was full of ribbons that were every color of the rainbow. She picked out a purple one and handed it to me, then turned around so I could tie it in a bow. "My mommy gave me all of those bows. I miss her a lot." she informed me. I tied the bow the best I could and flipped the braid over her shoulder so she could see the bow. She threw her arms around me and thanked me.

"Do you think you could do my hair for me tomorrow?" she asked meekly and looked up at me.

"I will do it when ever you want me to." I assured her. She smiled at me, and I heard Holden stirring. I looked over to see that Russell had followed me in here and was licking Holden's face. "Russell! That's rude!" Holden moaned and rolled over, pushing Russell away, but he was very persistent. Holden groaned and sat up. The blankets he was under fell away from his upper body to reveal broad shoulders, thick biceps and forearms, and very defined abs. It was amazing. I blushed as he stood up, thankfully I saw that he had long pajama pants on as I quickly turned away.

"Holden!" Katie jumped into his arms, "Look how Wendy did my hair!" She turned her head so Holden could see and he smiled.

"It looks very nice," he winked at me and I smiled.

"Just like mommy used to do," she said. His face fell slightly, just barely, but he quickly recovered.

"Exactly," he set her down. "Now Sharon is probably waiting for you, you better hurry." He placed his hand on the top of her head and let it slide off as she bid goodbye and ran out of the room. He slipped a shirt on and I looked around the room. My eyes wandered until they landed on the most beautiful guitar I had ever seen.

It was a light mahogany color, that faded into black around the edges. It had an intricate Native American design around the beautifully carved hole. The strings simmered in the early morning light that fell through the cracks in the ceiling, glittering. The strap fell to the side and fell to the floor with the same design as on the guitar. It had tiny wolves howling at some unknown moon with tiny swirling, sparkling clouds that looked as if they maybe had tiny rhinestones imbedded into the fabric.

"You have a guitar?" I walked over to it almost in a trance and ran my hand over the strings, listening to the sound of the strings ring in my ears. I hadn't realized how much I had missed my guitar.

"Yeah. It was my dad's," his hand brushed mine as he picked up the guitar and put the strap over his head and rested it on his shoulder. He played a few chords and then set it back down. I gazed at it longingly. "Do you play?"

"Yes," he started walking out of the room; I followed. "Leeann liked to play. I like to sing better."

"You'll have to show me sometime," We ended up in the kitchen. I noticed lately that I didn't really have to pay attention to where I was going. I guess I was learning the tunnels. Breakfast was piled high on the counters, there were eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes. I grabbed and plate and got some eggs and bacon. When I sat down, Katie came running over to me with a plate in her hands, followed by Holden. They sat down and she greeted me.

"Was Sharon mad?" he asked when they settled at the table.

"Yes. She told me if I was late again I would have time out," she said and frowned. My eyebrows pulled together and I instantly was mad at Sharon. How could you punish a child for being late, in other words: a child!

"What were you late for?" I asked her.

"Miss Sharon teaches us in the morning," she said. I nodded.

"It's good to learn," I took a bite of my eggs.

"And Wanda teaches us too. About the worlds she's been to. But she doesn't tell us stories that are as good as yours," she said and I giggled.

"Why thank you. But don't tell Wanda," I whispered to her with my hand up to my face as if I were telling her something that Holden couldn't hear.

"Okay, I won't," she giggled and covered her mouth.

"What was that?" he asked. I looked at the ceiling.

"Nothing," I said quickly. Katie laughed and my eyes darted to Holden, he winked at me. I smiled and finished my breakfast.

"Holden," Jeb came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. He had the rifle in his other hand. "We need you." Ian, Kyle, and Jared were behind him. It was the same group that had found me in the desert. I looked at all of them as Holden stood up and walked with them out of the dining room. I watched them leave the room at a fast pace. I turned back and Jamie had taken Holden's spot.

"Hey Jamie, how's it going?" I asked.

"Good," he said. "Jeb says you're ready for the field."

"Okay. Tell me what and it's done," I said and stood up. "Katie, when do you have to go back to Sharon?"

"I'm going now," she put her empty plate on the counter and ran out of the room. Russell was sitting at my feet looking up at me expectantly. To make things easier, there had been a permanent dog food and water bowl put in the kitchen and anyone who noticed it was running low refilled it, but I knew what he wanted. I was a sucker for his big brown eyes and constantly fed him human scraps, even though I knew it was bad for him. I chunked up a piece of bacon and put it on the floor.

"Do you know what's going on?" I turned to Jamie.

"I think there's someone out there," he told me calmly. My stomach flipped.

**A/N - **_Did you find it? Review and tell me!_


	13. Chapter 12 Moving Around

**A/N - **_Okay, here's the next chapter! And WARNING: We are moving toward a little fluff! YAY! So, anyway, enjoy!_

**Chapter 12**

"What do you mean?" I turned to him as he plopped on the seat and fiddled idly with his fingers.

"I don't know much. As far as I know, someone has been walking over the caves. We don't know who they are, but who ever does? No one could think of anyone they would have told about the caves," he said. I looked down at the table. "Anyway, we should get to work."

"Lead the way," I gestured through the door. He walked down to the fields were people were setting up. The kids were bring in watering jugs from the bathing room, some of the littler ones with a partner so they could support the weight of the water better. I smiled and walked to take a jug from some of the littler ones. A little boy hurried over to hand my his watering can. He held the handle up to his chest kicking the can with his knees, water sloshing everywhere. I smiled and walked over to take it from him, he tripped on his shoelaces and fell. The watering can flew out of his hands and water ran in ribbons over the rock, trying to find somewhere to seep back into the ground.

I ran over to him and picked him up, cradling him in my arms. He was bawling and automatically clung to me, sobbing into my chest.

"Shh, shh. It's okay," I assured him, rubbing smoothing circles on his back. "What hurts sweetie?" He held out his little chubby hands, and rolled up the pants on one of his legs. He had a scuffed knee and hands, but they weren't bad. "Here," I stood up and picked him up, "I'm sure Doc has some band aids."

I started walking down the hall with him when Sharon walked up to me. She ripped the little boy out of my arms.

"I'll take him," she all but growled and walked down the hall. My eyebrows pulled together and the corners of my mouth down into a frown as I watched her walk down the hallway with the nameless boy. I picked up the water can and went and set it by the entrance to the hallway.

"Wendy," A little girl came up behind me with a watering can in her hands, "Do you need a watering can?" My face smoothed into a gentle smile as I turned to her.

"I sure do," she handed it to me and walked with me as I brought up the rear of the assembly line covering the other half of the field everyone had been working on when my foot was still healing.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Kids!" Sharon called out. I looked up at her and she looked a little panicked. "Come over here please! Hurry! Get in a line!" The kids went over to her, and she led them quickly down the hallway. I looked up, and people were running down the hallway on the opposite side of the tunnel. Wanda was the only one that wasn't rushing.

"Hey Wanda!" She looked up and smiled at me as I came running over. "Where's everyone going?"

"They found someone outside, they're taking them to the dining room," she told me. I started toward it.

"Are you coming?" I turned around to see her smile as her small form ran towards me.

"Sure." We walked into the dining room, and everyone was gathered around two tables. Wanda led me over to one and looked around.

"Have they gotten back yet?" She looked at Mel, who was obviously distressed.

"No, they should be back by now," she said and looked down. A crease appeared on Wanda's forehead, looking very out of place. She sat a hand on Mel's, shoulder, and I went to sit beside her.

"I'm sure they're fine. They have the element of surprise," I said. Just as the last words left my mouth, I heard a shuffling of feet in the hallway. I looked over to see Jeb walk in, thankfully he was holding the gun lazily by his side. Behind him was Jared, Brant, and Holden leading a really tall guy through the door with dark hair and a blindfold on. Jeb gestured for everyone to sit down, but Doc ignored him and walked over to the boy. He reached up and took the blindfold off the boy, and he never flinched.

Doc took a small light out of his pocket and shined it in his eye, it cast no reflection. That one action explained everything. His confident stance, the smile on his face, and why he didn't flinch when anyone touched him. His eyes skipped around the room, no doubt counting how many were here.

"What's your name?" Doc asked. The boy looked at him.

"Alex," he said calmly with bright, blue, intelligent eyes. His eyes returned to flitting from person to person. When his eyes landed on me, he stopped and stared, no doubt seeing the reflective ring in my eyes. He stared until Jeb nudged him on the arm, handing him a water bottle. He smiled and thanked him, taking the water. My eyes flitted to Holden, and he was glaring at Alex.

"Where are we going to keep him Jeb? We have absolutely no room," she glared pointedly at me. My gaze didn't waver.

"He can stay with Jamie," I figured he would be one of the most accepting here, human or not. "I can sleep…somewhere else."

"Wendy can stay with me," Holden spoke up. "She can take Katie's bed, and Katie can just sleep with me."

"Sounds good to me," he said and looked at Sharon and she crossed her arm angrily. I looked at Holden. He winked at me, I blushed and smiled. "Well, Jamie and Wendy, if you wouldn't mind showing him to his new room," he nudged Alex to us.

"Sure," Jamie jumped up, glad to be included. Jamie and I walked our into the hallway and started toward the rooming hallway.

"Uh, hey guys! Where are we going? I can't see anything." I laughed and heard Jamie backtrack.

"Sorry. Forgot," he said and we started back toward the rooms. I got to our room first and started gathering all my things. I put them in a box that was in our room and walked down the hall to Holden's room, thinking. Alex was human; this was just another reason for Sharon to want me killed. I came up on Holden's room and listened outside the door, I didn't want to interrupt anything. I didn't hear anything, so I walked in.

Holden picked up a box and turned to put it on the other side of the room, then turned and saw me standing in the doorway. "Oh, hey! Come in! I mean, it's your room now." He smiled and came over to me.

"Thanks so much," I smiled and walked in, he took my box from me and sat it beside my mattress. "I hope it isn't too much of a bother. If it is, I can sleep…some where else. In the kitchen or something."

"No, no. It's fine. Really," he said. Katie ran through the door and into Holden's arms. "Hey Katie-boe-batie," he said and kissed her on the forehead.

"Hey Wendy!" she said and jumped down, running over to me and hugging my legs.

"Hey!" I laughed and put a hand on the top of her head. She looked around the room.

"Wendy's going to be staying with us from now on," Holden saw the confusion on her face and jumped in.

"Like a sleepover?" she squealed excitedly.

"Kind of," he nodded his head and she jumped up and down. She was so adorable. She helped me unpack my things and we went to eat.


	14. Chapter 13 Thanks and You're Welcome's

**A/N - **_So, another chapter! And the fun begins... -bitemark_

**Chapter 13**

"Hey, Wendy!" Jared ran up behind me. I was one of the lest one's finishing up in the fields after dinner, I had been thinking about Sharon all day. "Are you okay? You seemed kind of spacey today."

"Yeah," I said, my voice about an octave and a half to high. I turned around and grimaced.

"You lie about as well as Wanda. What's on your mind?" he said. I turned around and looked at him.

"Well, with Alex coming here and all, and being human…That's just another reason for Sharon…" I let my sentence trail off.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. Jeb likes you, and as long as he likes you, you're safe here. Everyone obeys the rules Jeb sets, no matter how crazy. Even Sharon," he put a hand on my shoulder to reassure me. I smiled weakly and he put an arm around my shoulder, leading me down the hallway. "Don't worry about it. I don't think Holden would let anyone hurt you either."

I stopped. "What do you mean?" His arm slipped off my shoulders when I stopped suddenly.

"Nothing," I heard a laugh in his voice.

"Jared, what do you mean?" I stressed. He laughed.

"Hey, I think I hear Mel calling me, I'll see you later," I heard him running down the hallway laughing.

"Jared!" I called after him. I sighed and wondered what he meant by it. I thought about what he had said while I was walking down the hallway, and while I was bathing. I hadn't come up with any ideas about anything he might have meant, so I brushed it off and headed back to my new room. I walked in and Holden was tucking Katie into his bed and telling her goodnight.

I tip toed over to my box to put my stuff away. "Can Wendy sleep with me tonight?" I turned around and saw Holden looking over to me and Katie looking up at him.

"If she wants to," he said. "But you have to ask her," he said quietly to her and smiled down at her. She smiled at him and turned to me.

"Wendy," she said. "Will you sleep with me tonight?"

I smiled and ran a brush through my hair. "Of course I will." She smiled as I walked over and crawled under the covers with her.

"This is just like my sleepovers with Shannon," she said and pulled the covers up to her chin.

"Okay," Holden said sternly. "Goodnight," he said and leaned over, giving her a kiss on the forehead and a hug. He went to get up but Katie caught his hand and he plopped back down on the mattress. He looked at her.

"You forgot Wendy," she simply stated. He smiled down at her, then looked at me and flashed a grin.

"I sure did," he told her and leaned over her. He pressed his lips against my cheek, seeming to let them linger as heat rushed up my neck, some settling in my cheeks, and some in the tips of my ears. Then he wrapped an arm around my torso and hugged me to him. "Goodnight Wendy," he murmured in my ear, and I nodded, not able to speak without my voice cracking.

He laid down in his bed and pulled the covers up to his chin. "Goodnight, Holden," I whispered.

"Goodnight."

* * * * * * * * * * *

I woke up to red eyelids and opened them to see sun shining on me from a crack in the ceiling. A thin layer of sweat was covering my body; I wasn't used to sleeping in direct sunlight. Katie was curled up against me, her head cradled in the crook of my neck and my arm slung over her. Holden wasn't in the room, I supposed he was in the bathing room or the bathroom. I laid my head back on the pillow and sighed. I didn't want to lay there, but I didn't want to wake Katie either. After a few minutes, she stirred and stretched, opening her eyes. She stretched once more and sat up.

I got out of the bed and walked over to my box, changing out of my pajamas and into my clothes.

"So," I said, "Where are your clothes?" I turned to her. She was still sitting on the bed groggily. She pointed to a box in the corner, I walked over to it and pulled out a pair of shorts and a shirt for her. "Come on, I'll help you get dressed."

She came over and I helped her change, then did her hair. I put it in a pony tail and tied a purple bow in it.

"Thank you," she said. I was running the brush through my hair when Holden walked in the room.

"Whoa!" he looked at Katie, "I'm going to start leaving you with Wendy more often!" I smirked and shook my head, putting my hair in a ponytail. I turned around to see Katie running out of the room.

"Bye Wendy!" she called after her. I listened to her small footsteps fade down the hall.

"I can't thank you enough for helping me with Katie. She looks up to you as a mom, and I'm so thankful you don't turn her away," he told me. I smiled at him.

"It's really no problem. Leeann always wanted to be a mother, I guess it carried over," I blushed at bringing Leeann into this very meaningful conversation, and instantly wished I hadn't.

"I just can't thank you enough. She's really turned into my daughter and it makes me so happy to see her happy," he said.

"You're welcome," I said.

"I feel like a broken record, but I can't think of any other way to say it," he told me. I smiled.

"Don't worry about it. You don't have to thank me," I told him. He pulled me into a hug and I smiled wide. He let go and we walked out of the room down to the dining area.

* * * * * * * * * * *

When I sat down, Jared, Mel, Ian, Wanda, Jamie, and Holden were in a little huddle over a note pad. There was a list scribbled on the paper that covered the whole sheet in four columns. It was a huge list, I didn't know they got that long.

"What's that for?" They all looked up quickly as if they didn't know I had sat down. Maybe they didn't.

"It's a raid list," Wanda offered. "Are you running out of anything?"

"Mm, I don't think so," I said and looked at the list. There was a lot of snack foods listed, and toiletries. It was a long list, I wondered how they were going to get all of it.

"So who's going to go?" I asked. Ian sighed. I looked around the table and everyone was looking at each other. I was lost. "What?"

"Well, Ian hates Wanda to go, and Jared hates Mel to go. But Wanda can't go alone and Mel has to because Wanda can't go by herself," Jamie explained to me. Everyone looked at their food, picking at it gloomily.

"Well, I-I could go," I looked down, not wanting to see their reactions in case they were negative.

"I think that's a great idea," Ian said. Jared looked at him across Mel and Wanda.

"She still has to go O'Shea," Jared said icily, not shrinking away from Ian's glare.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," a gruff voice sounded from behind us. I jumped and turned around to see Jeb standing closely behind Jamie. "Ian, you worry to much. Wanda's a brave soul - no pun intended - you underestimate her. And Jared, there's no reason to be mean." He scolded. He was definitely a father figure in the caves.

"Fine," Ian huffed.

"I'm still going," Mel intercepted. "I'll just stay in the car." Jared looked at here. She stared back at him with a defiant look until he glanced away.

"When are you guys setting off?" Jeb asked.

"Tomorrow."

**A/N - **_Don't forget to review!_


	15. Chapter 14 The Raid

**A/N - **_I suppose I should throw in another Disclaimer...so here ya go! -bitemark PS. Enjoy the chapter! I really enjoyed writing this one.\_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own The Host, or any of the publicly recognizable characters or plot lines. What I do own are the characters and plot lines that I have created.

**Chapter 14**

I woke up the next morning to a hand shaking me gently. "Wendy, time to get up. We need to leave soon." Holden was bent over me, his mouth to my ear trying not to wake Katie. I nodded and untangled myself from her carefully and laid her gently on the bed.

"Here, wear these," he said and threw some clothes at me. There was a white button up shirt with black slacks and a pair of small pumps that were very clean. Holden walked out of the room, and I slipped the clothes on quickly. They fit nicely, although the slacks were a little long.

When I was ready I walked into the kitchen looking for someone that would tell me where to go. I found Wanda, she was dressed similarly. She saw me and waved me over. "Come on! We're getting ready to leave!" She grabbed my hand and starting walking faster than I had ever been able to picture her moving down the hallway. It got dark and I didn't know where I was going. I clutched her hand tightly as we started going down a hill that soon switched to uphill that I recognized from the first time I was brought in. I hadn't been in this part since.

Suddenly the air smelt fresh, not thick and stagnant. It was wonderful, the fresh air. Then I could see; there was an opening at the end of the cave letting the light in. I ran to it, breathing in the desert air. I jumped when a breeze hit my skin, blowing red dust around me.

"Great," Wanda said, "Dust." She walked over to my left where there was a tall rock face with another opening in it. I looked up and immediately traced the line of the second peak. I looked around and saw the first and the third on the horizon.

"I can't believe it," I said. Everyone looked at me.

"What?" Ian asked, looking around.

"If I had just gone in order instead of cutting to the third peak…" I left the sentence as they looked between the peaks.

"No you wouldn't have," Ian told me. "No one does."

"I don't know O'Shea," Jared looked at him. "She was climbing all over the peaks, she might have."

"You ready guys?" Holden popped around from the side of a huge moving truck, which was now running. Ian and Jared climbed in the front of that, and Mel pulled me over to a minivan. She and Wanda got in the front, and I climbed into the back with Holden. It was very spacious, and there was a third row in the back set up. We backed out of the cave and took off.

* * * * * * * * * * *

We had been driving for a while when we came to a huge city that I didn't recognize.

"Do you want to get medical supplies over with first?" Mel asked Wanda. Everyone had been quiet and still for the whole ride, except for the occasional change of a radio station when we went out of range.

"Yes," she said meekly and looked out the passenger side window wringing her hands. I saw a blue hospital sign with a white 'H' on it and watched it pass as we turned by it. A huge hospital loomed in the distance as we drove closer to it. I caught sight of the huge moving van following us as we turned into the hospital parking lot.

Mel drove to the back of the parking lot that bordered the woods and turned the van off. Ian and Jared pulled up beside us and got out. The four of us piled out of the van and I followed them over to the back of the van. Holden lifted the back door of the truck and stood by it. Ian had a pained look on his face as he hugged Wanda tightly and handed her a white shirt. She rolled it up and bit it. I watched as she put her hand face up on the bottom of the truck over the door track. Holden raised the door a little as if to build momentum. He started to slam it and I gasped.

"Wait!" I yelled and Holden caught the door. "What are you _doing_?"

"We have to do this to get medical supplies. We can't just steal them. It's to hard."

I looked around. "How many times have you done this?"

"Every time we come out," Mel said sadly. I looked at poor Wanda and couldn't imagine how many injuries she had taken for the ones she loves.

"Let me do it this time," I said and moved Wanda aside. She looked at me with relief in her eyes, but also pain.

"Just let her do the talking," Mel briefed me. "And they always ask you for water, say yes when they do." I nodded and Wanda pushed her away.

"No, I can't let you do it," she told me.

"Please let me help," She looked at me with soft, blue eyes and nodded. I took the white shirt from her and gently pushed her towards Ian. He looked at me with gratitude. I nodded and put my hand in the path of the door.

"Wendy, are you sure?" Holden looked down at me.

"Please shut the door," I asked through my teeth.

"I can do it if-" I shook Wanda's hand off of my shoulder.

"Please shut the damn door before I lose my nerve," I said and put the shirt of my mouth.

"Do it Holden. Make it fast," Ian said. I heard the door barrel down it track and it landed on my hand. The pain made my ears ring, I couldn't hear anything. I dropped to my knees and finally heard a muffled scream, but it sounded so far away. Then I realized it was mine and shut my mouth. I folded in half, cradling my hand between my legs and my torso. I felt to hands on my back and someone pulled me up.

I looked up to see Holden looking at me with a pained face through tears streaming down my cheeks. Someone took my hand and wrapped it in the shirt. I was finally able to take control of my body after the shock of the pain wore off. I saw blood on the pavement and on my shirt. Holden picked me up and set me on my feet and held on to me as I wobbled, dizzy from the pain. I stepped away from him and cradled my hand in the crook of my elbow and tried to push away the nausea.

"Come on Wendy," Wanda put her small hand on my back and led me up to the hospital. We walked in and it was pretty much empty, except for a few Healers.

"Oh my!" A plump, middle aged woman in scrubs ran over and started leading us toward a room in the back. "What happened?"

"My friend, Sunlight Through Frozen Dew, is moving and a few of our friends are helping. Sunlight's hand got caught in the moving truck's door when it was being closed," Wanda told her as we walked into a room with a tall bench on one wall and a chair next to it. They helped me on the bench and the Healer turned to a cabinet with medical supplies in it.

"My name is Roots Deep In The Ground," she told us.

"Sunlight," I said weekly and smiled at her.

"My name is Petals Toward The Moon," Wanda rolled lies off her tongue like they were true. The Healer took the shirt from around my hand and I saw what it looked like for the first time. My fingers were pointed in weird directions and there was a cut on my middle finger the was still bleeding.

The Healer treated it with No Pain, Heal, and brushed the powder on my cut that softened the scar.

"Would you like some water?" The Healer asked me and I nodded. She smiled and left the room promising her return. As soon as the door shut, Wanda was a whirl wind opening the book bag and shoving as many white cylinders as she could fit in every pocket until the book bag looked like it would bust.

The Healer stepped back in the room with a water in one hand and a tissue box in the other. She handed me the water and set the tissues beside me. I thanked her and drank the water, taking a tissue out of the box and wiping under my eyes.

"Here's some more No Pain before you go," she said and stuck a little transparent rectangle in front of my mouth. I took it, put it on my tongue and swallowed. My hand was still a little sore when we walked out of the hospital as I cradled it to my chest. We walked back out to the cars were everyone was waiting for us.

When they saw us approaching, they all got out and met us. Ian took the backpack from Wanda and looked through what she had gotten. Holden and Mel came over and looked at my hand.

"I'm sorry Wendy," Holden told me.

"No, it's okay. I'm glad I could take some of the burden off Wanda," I told him. He was holding my hand in his, gently tracing the now faint scar that ran from the tip of my middle finger to my bottom knuckle.

"Thank you Wendy," Wanda came over. "I'm sorry you had to do that."

"No, it's okay. I'm glad I could help," I told her.

"Hey guys!" Jared called from the back of the truck. "We have to hit the road!" We all walked back to the vehicles we came in and set off. We went to a few stores and shopped around until the truck was almost full. Then we passed another hospital.

"We should stop at one more," Mel said carefully and looked in the rear view mirror at me.

"I'm up for it," I said and she turned in.

"You don't have to," Holden told me. I looked at him.

"I want to. I want to help," I told him. If this was how I could help I would do it. And I don't think I could bear letting Wanda do this to herself. Mel parked as far away from the hospital as she could again. I got out and walked over to the drivers side door and kept her from closing it. "We need a different story."

I put my hand on the door frame of the van, and Mel got back into the van. I shut my eyes and waited for the pain I knew was coming, but instead someone slipped their hand in mine. I looked to see a big, tan hand connected to a huge forearm that connected to a strong shoulder, a thick neck, then I saw Holden's face. He smiled at me and squeezed my hand.

"1, 2," I shut my eyes tightly and gripped Holden's hand. "…3!" She slammed to door on my hand. This time I didn't scream or cry, I actually felt okay. The No Pain from that morning must have still been in effect. I moaned when I looked at my hand, the cut on my middle finger was re-opened and my palm was bent. It looked like all of the bones in my palm were broken.

I sighed and started walking towards the hospital. My hand was dripping blood as we walked through the door. A healer ran over with some gauze and immediately escorted us into an empty room.

"A Healer will be in to see you in a minute…" he left the sentence open as he wrapped my hand in gauze.

"Many Intelligent Eyes," I filled in and looked at Wanda, who smiled at me and winked. He nodded and left the room. Wanda went over to the cabinets and refilled the bag; I wondered if she was faster when she wasn't injured. By the time the Healer came in, Wanda was sitting comfortably in the chair that was in the room.

"Hello, Many Intelligent Eyes. How are you?" the Healer walked in the room with a pleasant smile.

"The pain had dulled a little," I told her, when in reality, it had started throbbing painfully.

"Well, I'll give you some No Pain," she held out a little square for me for the third time today, which was way to much. She gave me more Heal, two doses for the broken bones, and brushed the Scar powder on my cut. I thanked her and Wanda and I headed out.

**A/N - **_Well, I hope you liked it! Remember to review!_


	16. Chapter 15 Sleeping Arrangements

**A/N - **_So, this is kinda a filler chapter...I think. So, enjoy! -bitemark_

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_**Chapter 15**

We returned to the cave and started carrying supplies in from the van. I had a book bag with medical supplies in it and the rest of them in my arms. I had kept up with the rest of them for as long as I could, but eventually I had to slow down because I couldn't' see and didn't know where I was going.

I was placing one foot carefully in front of the other, making sure I didn't walk into walls or step in a hole, when I heard footsteps coming down the hall. I pray that it was someone civil, like Jeb, or Ian, or Holden, and not someone like Sharon -- who no doubt would take the opportunity of having me alone, in the dark, and disoriented to slam my head into a wall.

"Hello?" I called out weakly praying that it was someone that would help.

"Wendy?"

"Holden," I sighed in relief. "Can you help me? I'm lost."

"Oh, I forgot you don't know this part. Yeah, where are you?" I felt his hands connect with my stomach, making me blush wildly.

"Here."

"I see," He said and took some of the bottle out of my hands. He freed one of my hands and took it, leading me down the hall. This pace was much better, at the pace I was at it would have taken me all night to get to were I could see again.

When there was enough light to see by, Holden slipped his hand from mine and smiled at me.

"Thank you," I said, and took the bottles from him so he could go get the next load.

"Looks like the roles are reversed," I giggled and he smiled. "You're welcome."

I took what I had down to Doc's office, when I got there, he was talking to Maggie. I got to the mouth of the room and coughed gently to alert them that I was there, and Maggie whipped around. She glared at me and walked out the door, bumping into my shoulder roughly and making me drop all of the cylinders I had in my hands. Doc walked over and helped me pick them all up.

"How many places did you guys go?" he asked, looking at all that I had brought in.

"Two," I told him and set the book bag on a cot and unzipped it, emptying it and handing the containers to him as he stored them on the bookcase that was in the room.

"So what did they do you Wanda this time?" he asked.

"I told her they could do it to me. They shut my hand in the minivan door and the moving truck door," I told him.

"Can I see it?" I put my bad hand in his hands as he turned it over and over to look at it. He traced where it had been cut and probed all the bones. "I'm going to give you some more Heal in the morning, so come see me as soon as you get up."

"Okay," I told him and walked out. I was exhausted and felt like I was walking around like a zombie, just barely awake. I didn't feel like doing anything, so I just went to my room. Holden was in there tucking in Katie.

"Can I sleep in my own bed tonight?" She asked as Holden was pulling down the covers of his bed.

"Sure," he said, and walked over to her bed. I watched as he tucked her in and gave her a kiss on the cheek goodnight. Then I turned to my box and got out the thick blankets I had brought because I thought I was going to sleep on the floor, now I was. I folded one of the blankets over a few times and laid down in it, covering myself with the other blanket.

I felt something cold and wet on my hand, and opened my eyes to see Russell nudging my hand.

"Hey buddy," I murmured and rubbed his head, making room for him to lay down. He curled up beside me and I shut my eyes. An arm wrapped around my shoulder and another under my knees and lifted me up. I jerked away and was pulled to a strong body, carried a few steps, and laid in a bed.

"You don't have to sleep in the floor," Holden whispered and put the covers over me.

"Where are you going to sleep?" I murmured are rubbed my eyes.

"I'll sleep on the floor," I shook my head and felt the bed around me.

"This is big enough for two people," I told him. "I won't let you sleep on the floor in your own room."

"Fine," he sighed and got into the empty side. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I closed my eyes and drifted off into sleep. I had been sleeping peacefully when I was startled awake by Holden. He had wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to him. I turned my head to look at him, his face was relaxed and peaceful in sleep. He sighed as I shifted slightly and hugged me tighter. I didn't want to wake him, so I just closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep.

I woke up in the morning when Holden was pulling himself gently away from me. When he noticed my eyes open, he laid back down beside me. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay. Go do what you need to do," I said and moved over so he could get out of the bed. The mattress was against the rock wall. When I fell asleep last night I was against the wall, but now Holden was. The only way to get out was for him to climb over me.

I scooted a little bit to make it easier for him, but it just made him lose his balance and fall on me. "Oomph," I grunted as he fell on me, then giggled.

"Sorry," He said and ended up where he started. "Here," he grabbed my waist and lifted me up and across his body. "There. I'll be back in a minute."

"What time is it?" I was starting to feel groggy again. I had thought it was time to get up.

"Like, two in the morning," he said. "Go back to sleep."

"Ay, ay captain," I said and rolled over, burying into my pillow and closing my eyes.

The next time I woke up, sun was shining into my eyes. Holden's arm was around me again, and I was snuggled to his side. I looked over at Katie and Russell was curled up with her, she was using him as a stuffed animal. Holden sighed and stirred, I looked up at his face. It was peaceful and content, a small smile spread on his face.

I snuggled closer to him, I definitely felt something for him. I didn't have much to draw on from Leeann, she had never been in a serious relationship. His arm tightened around me and I smiled, it felt good to be this close to him. It was the little things he did, the way he made me blush, and the way he made my stomach flip. I smiled up at him and wondered if he felt the same way. I wasn't good at reading humans, they were so unpredictable, but so predictable at the same time.

He stirred once more and opened his eyes and I quickly looked away; I didn't want him to catch me staring at him.

"You awake?" he murmured.

"Yes," I said and went to crawl over him. He put his hands on my hips and helped me over, making me blush. I turned my head and hoped that he didn't see it.

I walked into Doc's office and he was sitting at his desk, reading as always. He heard my footsteps and looked up. "Oh, hey Wendy." he got over and went to his cabinet, handing me Heal and No Pain. "It seems like every time I see you I'm giving you medicine."

"Seems like it," I giggled.

"I always tell Wanda to take it easy after a raid, and I expect you to too," he told me sternly. I nodded.

"Will do," I said and walked to the dining area. There was hardly anyone in there, except for Lily, who was making breakfast.

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**A/N - **_Alright! There you go faitful readers! Another chapter! _


	17. Chapter 16 Complications

**A/N - **_Here you go guys! Exciting news! I'm almost finished typing this on my computer! YAY! But I'm sad, I'll probably cry when I finish this. Anyways, have fun reading!_

_

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**Chapter 16**

"Hey Lily," I walked over to the counter and she looked away from the food to see who was talking.

"Hey Wendy. How's the world treating you?" She smiled at me and turned back to what she was cooking.

"It's treating me okay," I told her and grabbed a piece of bacon, chewing on it and thinking.

"How did the raid go yesterday?"

"It went well," I told her and gave the rest of my bacon to Russell, who still faithfully followed me everywhere, even though I hadn't been paying much attention to him lately.

"I heard you got your hand slammed in a door?" Goodness, the gossip in these caves.

"Twice," I said. She turned to me and raised her eyebrows.

"Ouch."

"Yeah," I said. "So, what kind of jobs around these caves don't take to much work? Doc told me to take it easy, but I can't just do nothing. I'll go crazy."

"Well, you could do the laundry. It's Trudy's turn today, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind you taking over for a while, she could spend some time with the kids." She told me. "Speak of the devil, she's right over there." Lily pointed her out to me.

"Thanks Lily," I took another piece of bacon off the plate. "Good bacon," Russell whined. "And Russell agrees." I gave him another piece while Lily laughed, then walked over to Trudy.

"Wendy!" The two little boys with her chimed and smiled at me.

"Hey there," I gave them both hugs and sat down.

"Hello Wendy," Trudy smiled at me and set to plates down in front of the boys. "Anything I can help you with?"

"Actually," I smiled at her. "I was wondering if I could do the laundry today? Doc told me to take it easy, but I can't just do nothing. I'd go crazy." I repeated.

"Of course!" She said. "All the dirty laundry is in the bathing room where the two rivers are. All the detergent and everything is right by the hamper. When you're done, there's a line right there to hang everything on the dry. People come to claim they're clothes at the end of the day." she told me and I nodded.

"Thanks," I said and started walking away.

"Wait!" I turned around. "You might want to take a light down there. And thanks," She told me. "No, thank you." I smiled and walked off. Russell was begging at the table where Mel, Jamie, Jared and the rest of the gang were sitting. "Good morning," I said as I sat down.

"Someone's cheery," Ian grumbled and stuffed his mouth with food.

"Yes, I am," I said and picked some eggs off of Holden's plate and popped them in my mouth. He scowled playfully and turned his back to me so I couldn't reach his plate. I glanced at Jared, he winked at me. I raised an eyebrow confused, he shook his head and smiled.

"Hey Wendy, how's your hand?" Ian asked.

"It's okay," I said and stuck my hand across the table to see it. He took my hand gently in his huge ones and turned it over.

"Is that where you got cut?" Wanda pointed to the pink like that cut my middle finger in half.

"Yes," Ian traced over the scar with his finger and released it. I pulled my hand back across the table and set it in my lap.

"Hey! Lazies!" Jeb called across the dining hall. "The fields won't tend themselves!" Everyone at the table jumped up and started walking toward Jeb.

"You coming Wendy?" Jamie called.

"No," I told him. "I have laundry duty today." He wrinkled his nose and ran out of the room. I smiled and started to walk down to the laundry room. Halfway there, I remembered that I didn't have a light with me, but I didn't feel like turning back to get one. I probably didn't need one.

When I got to where I could hear the rivers babbling, I watched my step. I walked up to the rivers and felt around until I came up on a pile of dirty clothes. I was astounded at how big it was. There was a basin beside it, so I filled it up with warm water from the spring and put some of the detergent in it.

I took some of the clothes from the top of the pile and put them down in the water and stirred them a little bit. I grabbed two sides of one piece of clothing and rubbed it together, switching the fabric in my hand every now and then. When I felt like I had scrubbed that piece of clothing I rinsed it in the river and found the line Trudy had told me about and hung it up.

I didn't know how long I had been there, but I had gone through about 'three' loads. My stomach was starting to rumble and I had told myself I would just finish the load I was working on, then I would get something to eat, I was almost done.

_Plunk, plunk, plink_. Someone had kicked pebbles into the river, I froze, my heart rate sped up.

"Oh, shoot. Wendy, it's me," Holden. I relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. I laughed and turned around, even though I couldn't see.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I need to tell you something. Where are you?" He said.

"Right…here," I said and walked over to where I heard the pebbles fall and felt his arm. "So what did you need to tell me?"

"Well, uh. I-I," He sighed, I was puzzled. He put both of his hands on either side of my face and pulled me toward him. Then he did something I never would have ever predicted. His lips pressed to mine. His hands moved down from my cheeks to my waist and he pulled me closer to him. He let me go and I took a deep breath, my lips still tingling. "I really like you, more than just a friend," he told me.

"I, um, I need to think," I wiggled out of his grasp and ran down the hallway.

"Wendy!" He called after me and I kept running. I didn't know where I was headed, the walls were rushing by me so fast I couldn't keep track of where I was headed. Eventually my legs and lungs started burning, I needed to stop. I smelled the familiar smell of sulfur, I was in the game room. All the lights were off and it was pitch black. I walked until I felt a wall and slid down it, my head was killing me. I curled up on the floor and held my head, it hurt so bad.

_What? Where am I? _No. This could not be happening. I knew enough of Wanda's story to know what had happened. Leeann was back.

_Leeann?_

_What? Who are you? Get out of my head!_

_

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**A/N - **_Uh oh!  
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	18. Chapter 17 Requests

**A/N - **_Okay. I'm going to post this chapter now, but I may not get to post any more until next Saturday...I'm going to be MIA this week. I'm in the school musical, and as it gets closer it gets more demanding. Like practice every day Monday-Wednesday for three hours and performances Thursday-Saturday. But it's almost here and I'm so exciting!_

_And some exciting news! I'm almost done typing this on my computer. I'm not sure if there's going to be a sequel but I'm considering it...anyway, if anyone cares. Just a little tidbit. Anyway - enjoy! -bitemark.

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**Chapter 17**

"Wendy?" Holden looked at me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, sorry. I'm just really tired." I told him.

"From the raid still?" We sat down and I leaned on him. I really was tired, just not from what he thought.

"Yes." I lied.

"Why don't you go take a nap? I'm sure Trudy would take over for you," he told me. I nodded and laid my head on his shoulder. My eyelids got heavier and heavier, eventually I just closed them.

"Hey Trudy?" I felt the vibrations of Holden speaking rumbling through his chest next to my ear. "Do you think you could take over laundry? Wendy's wiped, I was just going to let her go sleep."

"Of course I will, poor thing," Trudy said. I started swaying back and forth and realized we were walking. I hadn't noticed Holden picking me up. After a while he slowed and stopped, the laid me on the bed. He turned to leave but I grabbed his shirt.

"Stay with me," I mumbled.

"I need to go to the fields," he told me. "They won't tend themselves," he mimicked Jeb.

"They will today. Stay with me," Now that I knew how he felt I never wanted to leave his side. He laughed and shook his head, crawling over me and laying beside me, pulling me closer to him.

_This is gross. I don't even know him. _Leeann chimed in.

_You don't have to watch. And I do, and I like him a lot. Please just let me be with him. I'm begging, _I told her. She made a sighing sound and shrank back in my head. _Thank you._

I looked up at Holden, who was smiling down at me. "Play me something on your guitar." I told him.

"Okay," he said and reached over me to grab his guitar. He sat up so that he was propped up against the wall and I was laying beside his legs. He started strumming on his guitar and singing. I listened to the song as my eyes slowly closed. He finished his song and put his guitar back, then hunched down so he could lay beside me.

_That was good, _She told me grudgingly, and I smiled.

"I like that," I told him as he pulled me toward him.

"I wrote that a while ago," he said.

"I like it," I murmured, fighting the fog that had taken over my brain. I was so tired. He ran his fingers through my hair as I shut my eyes and used him as a pillow. I don't know how long I was asleep, but eventually I heard a stomach growling under my ear. I opened my eyes to find myself laying on top of Holden.

"Someone's hungry," I said and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. He laughed and agreed picking me up with him. "I'm capable of walking," I crossed my arms and huffed. He laughed and set me down, compromising by grabbing my hand and squeezing it gently.

We started walking down the hall toward the dining hall, I hadn't realized how hungry I was too. My stomach growled and I covered it with my hand.

"Whoa," Holden laughed and started running. "We can't let you be hungry!" He pulled me along and we ran to the dining hall. I was out of breath from running in laughing when we got in there. It was pretty much empty, I wondered how long we had been asleep. We got some of what was left and sat down; we pretty much had the room to ourselves.

"How long were we asleep?" I asked.

"Mm, all afternoon I would say," He had a mouthful of food.

"Wow," I said. I didn't think we had been out that long. "Where is everyone?"

"Hey Lily!" Holden called, she was finishing up making some rolls for breakfast tomorrow. She looked, "Where is everyone?"

"All in their rooms I guess, I didn't hear anything about other plans," she told us.

"Okay, thanks!" I said and picked up my empty plate. I walked over to the trash and threw it away. Holden's arms slid around my waist and he nestled his nose in my ear.

_Give me a break, _Leeann snarled.

_You won't let me forget that you're here will you?_

_Not a chance._ I rolled my eyes. We promised no bickering, but this was more of a sibling type fight.

"Want to go somewhere a little more private?" he asked in my ear and nodded, even though I knew for me there would never be anything private again.

_Oh no! He's going to rape me! _She cried.

_No he's not! _I snapped. _And if he did, it would be _us.

She rolled her eyes as Holden grabbed my hand and led me out of the dining hall. We went down a couple of halls, then came to a room, I supposed by the way the echoes of our feet returned. He stopped and pulled me close to him.

"Where are we?" I asked as he spun me around, leading me in a dance with no music.

"They used to store things from raids here, but it got to be too many things, so they found somewhere else to store everything."

"Oh, okay." I said. I was just enjoying being in his arms when he tilted my chin up and softly kissed my lips. Leeann made a gagging sound but I ignored her and pushed her to the back of my mind. I ran my fingers through his hair and he pulled back. I smiled, even though I knew he couldn't see me in the dark.

"Ready to head back?" he asked and pulled me, not waiting for a response.

"Sure," I said and laughed. We got to were I could see again and I intertwined my hand with Holden's lightly and swung them as we walked.

_Can I interrupt with a request? _She asked meekly.

_Sure._

_Can I see Jamie?_

_Oh! Of course! _I pulled my hand out of Holden's and looked at him.

"I'll be right back," I told him. "I'll meet you in the room, okay?" He nodded and I ran down the hallway. I came to my old bedroom door and knocked on the wall beside the curtain.

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**A/N - **_Review! Holden's song in here is Lullaby - The Spill Canvas. Just FYI.  
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	19. Chapter 18 Visits

**A/N - **_Sorry it took me so long guys! I've just been really busy with the musical every day. Last night was the opening night and it went great! I have another performance tonight and another tomorrow night, then that's it until next year! Well, I'm going to take a nap. Enjoy!_

**Chapter 18**

"Come in!" a deep voice startled me and I remembered, Alex. I walked in the room and spotted Jamie on his bed, laying with a hand over his eyes.

_Oh my gosh!_ Leeann gushed.

_What?_

_He's gorgeous!_

_Who?_

_Him!_

_Him? _I looked over at Alex, and nodded hello. He smiled and continued on in the book he was reading as Leeann melted. _You don't even know him. What if he's a jerk?_

_Well, I don't know Holden but we kiss him all of the time!_

_I do know Holden and quite frankly am in love with him. So of course I'm going to kiss him. _I told her. _And I know he's not a jerk._

I walked over to Jamie and Leeann started to wiggle inside my head. I tried not to flinched from the sensation as I walked over and plopped on the mattress beside him.

_Jamie!_ She squealed. He looked over at me and smiled wide.

"Hey Wendy," he said and Leeann's mood dropped. He wanted Jamie to say Leeann. "What's up?"

"I just hadn't talked to you in a while and wanted to make sure everyone was treating you okay." I told him. He smiled at me.

"Yes, they have been," he said and looked at my sheepishly. "So…you and Holden?"

"Yes," I blushed and Leeann tried to roll her eyes.

"I never would have seen _that_," he said and rolled his eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

_He was being sarcastic,_ Leeann informed me.

"You guys were all over each other all of the time. It was just a matter of who made the first move," Jamie said matter-of-fact-ly and sat up, "And boy did you freak him out." He laughed.

"I didn't mean to," I said. _I had a splitting headache._

_Sorry about that. But it's nice to know they're here and safe. _

_It's okay. _"Well, I'll see you later Jamie," I told him and gave him a quick hug.

"Yeah, I'm wiped. I think I'm going to go to bed," he said.

"Okay," I walked out of the room. I was getting better at having two conversations at once.

_You know, _I told Leeann. _Since you came back, I haven't really felt the need to be around Jamie and Mel. It's like I came here for your urge. And you weren't even there._

_Well, regardless of what brought you here, thanks for coming. It gives me a sort of peace that I know they're here and safe,_ She had seemed more peaceful, now that she mentioned it. _Even though I can't hug them with my own arms. It makes me feel better._

_I'm glad. You know, _I started, _that girl Wanda? That's a soul? _She nodded. _Well, she came here in Mel. _

_What?!_

_Yes. They took Wanda out and Mel woke up._

_Really? _I felt a glimmer of hope flicker up and knew what I had to do.

_I will. Just, let me have a little more time with Holden. I'll tell Doc before the next raid, just to make sure we won't need any medicine for it. _

_You don't have to do that. _She felt my love for Holden. _You can be put in another body, like Wanda!_

_No._

_Why not?_

_It's murder. I don't want to take another life. _

_But anyone we would get would have already been long gone, _She assured me. _I wouldn't want you to leave._

_I don't know. _I told her, and that ended the conversation as I walked back into the room. I was actually feeling kind of drowsy again. Holden was already laying on the bed, having already put Katie to bed. I hadn't realized how late it was. I crawled into the bed with Holden and he pulled me to him.

"Tired?" I nodded and yawned, using him as a pillow. He kissed my hair and Leeann smiled in my head. A pain went though my heart making it almost impossible to breathe thinking of what I was going to do to him. "What's wrong," he asked after my breathing hitched. Tears ran out of my eyes and I shook my head.

Thankfully he left it at that and pulled me closer to him and murmured a lullaby until I fell asleep.

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I woke to the sun shining in my face, Holden was already up and getting dressed. I sat up and yawned, getting up and grabbing my things. I took a bath and got dressed in the bathing room. When I walked into the dining hall I sat down with everyone and saw that Alex was now sitting beside Jamie. They must be big buddies now.

"Hey Wendy," I looked at Jamie. "You want to help me and Alex till the rest of the field today?" With one batch of crops done, we need to switch them.

_Yes!_

_You just want to stare at Alex. You're hoping he'll take his shirt off._

_I can help being attracted to him as much as you can help being attracted to Holden. _

_Okay, okay. You win._

"Sure," I said.

"Great!" Jamie's enthusiasm made me giggle, he was such a ball of energy. It was contagious. We finished up breakfast and after a goodbye kiss from Holden we walked out of the dining hall and down to the fields. He was going to be in a different field with Mel, Jared, and Ian pulling up roots.

Jamie and Alex went in front, turning over shovel-fulls of dirt. I came after them with another shovel and chunked them up. The field was big, and we had a long way to go.

_Ask him something! _Leeann pleaded.

_Like what?! _I asked, irritated. I didn't really want to talk to him. I wished it was Holden.

_About where he used to live._

_Fine._

"So Alex," I said and he turned around, sweat dripping off his forehead. I hadn't realized it had gotten so hot. I guess I had gotten used to it. "Where did you grow up?"

"Well," he said a little breathlessly, "Right here in Arizona." We got to the end of a row and Alex stopped. "Hey Jamie, hold up."

We stopped and Wanda came over with water, we thanked her and took the bottles. Alex took his shirt off and threw it on the floor. I looked over his body quickly and Leeann went wild.

_Oh, my, gosh. _I could see why. He was more built than Holden, if the was even possible.

_No! No no no! You're making me like him! Stop! _I said. I couldn't like him. I like Holden. _No!_


	20. Chapter 19 On the Road Again

**A/N - **_Yay! New chapter! So my musical is over for this year :/ so I will hopefully be able to get on more...Anyhoo, enjoy!

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**Chapter 19**

It had started out like every other day since Leeann 'woke up' as we called it. I woke in Holden's arms as usual and completed my morning routine. I walked into the dining hall and saw the familiar raid huddle. Holden and I walked over and sat down.

"Hey Wendy," Mel looked over at me. My stomach was in knots and Leeann was quiet, we both remembered the promise I had made. "Will you go on a raid with us? It's just a short one, You, Wanda, Me, and Jared."

"Sure," I said. "What are we going for?"

"Just some food stuffs," she said and I was relieved that we didn't need medical supplies. They had explained to me that at one time they had tried to just steal medical supplies from around back but had almost gotten caught to many times that they just went back to the old way. I nodded and they smoothed out the plans for tomorrow.

I excused myself and walked down the hall to Doc's office, it was a very solemn walk.

_You don't have to do this. _Leeann told me. I sighed.

_I do._

_What about Holden?_

_Holden, _I was mentally screaming, I calmed myself. I was just stressed. _Holden, can't love a murderer - shouldn't. And that's what I am to the human race. A murderer. And I can't let myself be around him if I can't be faithful. You want to be with Alex and I don't want to keep you from that. _

_But-_

_No. Please, Leeann. I have to do this. _I told her. I walked into Doc's office and he was at his desk. He went to stand up and I shook my head.

"What can I do for you Wendy?" he looked at me, puzzled.

"I've heard Wanda's story," I started. "And I need you to do me a favor." His brow wrinkled.

"Is Leeann back?" he asked me.

"Yes." He stood up slowly and walked around his desk.

"She talks to you."

"Yes."

"And you want to give her her body back?"

"Yes." I told him, nodding my head with every yes. He must have seen the change. It hadn't been too long since Wanda went through this.

"What about Holden?" he looked down at me.

"Holden…" I sighed. "Holden doesn't need to be in love with a murderer."

"Wendy, you're not-"

"I am." My throat closed and tears started rolling down my cheeks. "I took away Leeann's life. Her dog, her body, even her first kiss. Holden will be hurt, but he'll heal. I know it. He's got Katie, and one day a pretty girl will find her way into the cave and he'll be happy and Katie can find a new mom." I broke down sobbing at the mention of Katie. A few nights ago she had asked me if I was going to be her new mommy, and I said yes. "Neither of them need to love a parasite."

"Wendy," he said.

"Doc, I need you to do this. I don't really care what you do with me, bury me, dissect me, whatever. Just don't send me to another planet." He nodded and sat down.

"I will. When were you thinking?" he asked me.

"After the raid," It was business now. "Do you need any supplies?"

"No," he whispered. "I have everything I need."

"Okay then," I wiped my eyes and nose. "Thank you."

"I'm going to miss you Wendy."

"I'll miss you too. Please," I had one last request. "Don't tell anyone."

"I won't," he assured me and I walked out of the office with this huge cloud of finality hanging over me. I just hoped I could make it a day without crying. I headed to the fields where I new everyone would be and took my place without behind Holden.

"Where'd you go babe?" he asked as he picked an ear of corn out of the tall stalks and handed it to me. I set it in the basket.

"I needed to use the bathroom and then I stopped to eat something real quick," I lied and he smiled.

"Okay. Do you feel okay?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm just tired," I said, "And a little nervous. I'm always nervous about raids." He nodded in understanding. I hated to see how much he trusted me and how much he would be hurt.

_Just don't think about it. _Leeann chimed in. She had been quiet while I was talking with Doc.

_I can't help it. He trusts me so much, _I told her. I wanted to cry again but I wouldn't. Not in front of Holden. I don't know how much longer I could hold it together and keep lying.

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Holden and I retired from the fields early so I could get to bed and get ready for the raid in the morning. We got Katie and put her in bed, then climbed into our own bed.

"I'm going to miss you tomorrow," he told me. I looked up at him and kissed him for what I knew to be one of the last kisses I would ever share with him.

"I'm going to miss you too." _More than you know,_ I added in my mind. I kissed him some more with an urgency. I needed to get as many of these as I could. The memory would have to last an eternity for whatever came after this life. Holden pulled away and looked at me.

"What's wrong babe?" I smiled, I loved when he called me 'babe.'' He ran his fingers over my eye lids, my cheek bones, my nose, then finally my lips. I kissed the tips of his fingers.

"Nothing, just - lady problems," How cliché. He nodded and kissed me once more.

"Just, go to sleep," he pulled me close, "It will help."

"Okay, thank you." I said. "I love you."

"I love you too," I snuggled to him and fell into a deep peaceful sleep. This was one of the last short sleeps I was going to have.

I woke in the morning to Holden whispering in my ear. "Wendy, love, Jared said it's almost time to go."

I opened my eyes and got up, giving Holden a kiss on the cheek. I got up and got ready, and walked to the dining hall after one last kiss from Holden. I walked in and we waited for everyone to show, then walked out to the vehicles and jumped in. We had decided to stay local for this one since it wasn't big, and we only brought the mini van. We mostly needed water and decided we would just make it one stop.

We pulled into a grocery store parking lot, and Jared pulled up right to the doors of the store.

"We're going to drive around to make it less suspicious," he told me with a smile on his face. "We'll be back in about thirty minutes?"

"Sounds good," Wanda said and we got out of the minivan and walked into the store. Wanda grabbed a basket and we walked to the drinks. We were pondering over whether Jamie would like orange soda or grape soda when a voice sounded clear across the isle.

"Sings Like the Wind?" I hadn't heard that voice in a long time and scrambled to come up with a new name, what was he doing here? I didn't turn around until I felt a hand tap my shoulder and saw Dr. North standing in front of me with a smile on his face.

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**A/N - **_Dun dun dun!_


	21. Chapter 20 Unexpected

**A/N - **_So I got myself into another play...although it's just a little skit, I have to write this one. For a while I may not be able to post as often as I have been because I'm going to start having practice two times a week for a while. Anyway, enjoy! -bitemark_

_PS. DUN DUN DUN.  
_

**Chapter 20**

"Oh, excuse me," I stepped aside as if I though I thought I was standing in his way. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. You must not be Sings Like the Wind. You look exactly like her. She went on a vacation at least half a year ago and never came back. Her students miss her terribly." He told me. I helped Wanda get two packs of water down from the shelf.

"Oh my, how sad." I said. "And what's your name?"

"Oh! I'm sorry. My name is Eyes Pointed Toward the North, or, Dr. North for short. And yours?"

"Ah, a seaweed?" He nodded. "My name is Song of Flight, and my friends name is Eyes of Many Colors."

"Nice to meet both of you," We started walking toward food.

"Where do you work Dr. North?" Wanda asked, signaling that he needed to stay with us. I grabbed a few bags of chips off the shelf and anything else I saw that I knew different people in the caves would like.

"I work at the Art Institute of Arizona," he answered and followed us to the checkout lines with the few things he had. "It's more up north."

"Oh, that sounds nice. Eyes, we should travel up north some time. You're always talking about a change of scenery," Wanda said and giggled. I smiled.

"We should. It sounds pleasant!" I took as many bags as I could and Wanda did the same while Dr. North gathered his stuff.

"Here," he took some bags from Wanda and I. "Let me help you to your car."

"Thank you so much!" I said as we walked out to the van, which was parked right up front. He put the bags in the back and we shoved him in the van.

"What?" he looked around at all of the people in the van and swallowed. We shut all the doors quickly and I was handed a white cylinder.

"Sorry Dr. North," I said and sprayed his face. He took in a breath to say something and shut his eyes, the Sleep taking effect immediately. This was the heavy duty stuff used for emergencies.

"Who is he?" Ian banged on the dash and Wanda jumped. I sighed.

"He was my old boss," I told them. "I never expected him to be here. I'm sorry guys." I couldn't do anything right.

_Don't say that. _

_Why not? It's true._

_No. It's not. You're about to do something that's amazing. _She was referring to me giving her her body back. She didn't want me to go, but she was anxious to have her body back. I couldn't blame her.

"No, it's okay." Jared said. I looked at him and smiled. It made me feel a little better.

"What are we going to do with him?" Ian roared and I flinched.

"Calm down Ian. It's not up to you or me. You know who it's up to," Jared told him calmly. I saw Wanda reach one handover and grabbed Ian's. He looked over at her and smiled, his bad mood disappearing instantly. My heart broke, I would never be able to comfort Holden like that. He would hate me after what I was about to do.

Tears welled in my eyes as I looked out of the window and un into the clear midday Arizona sky. There were tiny little clouds floating around and the sky was a bright blue, contrasting with the deep red of the desert floor.

_What a beautiful day to be someone's last. _I said nonchalantly.

_Stop. _Leeann commanded. _Stop. Please don't be like that!_

_I'm just enjoying what I have left. _Leeann wanted to cry, but wasn't connected to her tear ducts at the moment. I looked down at my hands as we drove over the bumpy dirt road back to the caves. We pulled up to the caves and everyone jumped out, our first priority was to get Dr. North into the caves before he woke up. We got him and the bags into the caves and took him to Doc's office.

"Who's this?" Doc looked up from his book and walked over to meet us as Jared and Ian laid Dr. North's body on the cot as he stirred slightly.

"My old boss," I told him. "He recognized me in the grocery store. I'm sorry."

"For what?" Holden's voice rang from behind me as he grabbed my hand.

"For making myself a nuisance," I told him. Doc glanced at me sadly, he knew I was trying to talk myself into it. I looked down and he looked away.

"You're not a nuisance," Holden told me. He was making it very hard for me to be uncaring. He kissed my temple, "I'm glad you're safe." I smiled and Dr. North opened his eyes and looked around.

"S-Sings?" His eyes landed on me as he shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry Dr. North. We can't let you go," I told him.

"Bu-but you came here," he said shakily. "To live wi-with a bunch of…humans?"

"Yes," I nodded and stepped forward. Holden was tethered to my hand so he took a step forward also. Dr. North shrunk down into the cot. I smiled at him.

"We won't hurt you. Have you ever wanted to go to another planet?" I asked him. "Which has been your favorite so far? We can send you there." I laid my hand on his.

"I'm not a skipper," he told me and jerked his hand out from under mine. I let me hand fall back onto the cot. "Please let me go," he pleaded. I shook my head.

"I can't, Dr. North. Not now. Not now that you know where we are," Holden squeezed my hand for comfort and my heart ached. I looked down and Dr. North's breathing hitched.

"You're going to kill me. They're going to kill me. They're going to kill me. They're going to kill me!" He repeated, his eyes darting wildly around the room. I shook my head again.

"We're not going to kill you," I told him, "We'll send you to a ni-"

My sentence got cut off my Dr. North's eyes rolling into the back of his head and his nose started gushing blood. His body convulsed and he started foaming at the mouth as his hand trembled over the sheets, clenching and unclenching. I screamed as Holden pulled me to him and held me to his chest. I screamed; I wanted to look away but I couldn't stop watching. I looked back at Dr. North and Doc was the only one close to him trying to quite the gush of blood from his nose. Holden started pulling my out of the room but I resisted, using him as a crutch instead.

"Wh-what happened?" I sobbed, clutching Holden. I never wanted to let go. Doc had a pair of stethoscopes in his ears and was listening to Dr. North's chest. He closed his eyes and shook his head, sighing.

"The soul inside Dr. North's body shredded his brain," Doc told me and covered him with a sheet. I didn't want to look anymore.

_You're not going to do that to me are you?_

_How could you even ask that?_ I was shocked as Holden pulled me out of the room. _I would never do that to anyone. Definitely not you. You're like my sister._

_I'm sorry. I'm just - I'm just, _She didn't have a word to describe what we felt; horror wasn't strong enough.

**A/N - **_Review please?_


	22. Chapter 21 Goodbyes

**A/N - **_It's almost over guys! This is kind of sad. This story, the last time I updated it - on the 7th - was this story's two month mark on this site! Kind of exciting. Anyway...here you go! Enjoy!_

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**Chapter 21**

Holden led me into the dining hall, it was about dinner time when we had arrived. Holden led me over to the food and I got a plate, piling it high.

_My last meal, _I thought solemnly.

_Wendy, _Leeann felt horrible. I didn't want her to feel like that, but I couldn't help pointing out the smaller things. Holden led me over to the table and sat down. Ian asked what they were doing with Dr. North and Holden just shook his head, promising an explanation later. I ate my food and looked around at the room for the last time.

After dinner, we went to go get Katie, I told him I was exhausted and just needed to go to bed. When we got back into the room, Katie spoke up.

"Can Wendy sleep with me?" she asked. "We haven't had a sleep over in a while," she said and I smiled.

"Of course," Holden told her. I smiled and got into the bed with Katie. Holden gave us our goodnight kisses and got in his own bed. Everything seemed to go in a blur, I was missing everyone so bad already. Katie fell asleep and I just lay there for a while, looking at the form of the small child laying with me, and every once in a while my eyes would stray to the form of the man I loved.

Leeann showed me some of her favorite memories as tears rolled down my - soon to be her - cheeks. I had smoothed the plans out with Doc when I was supposed to be using the bathroom, he promised me her would be there whenever I was ready.

I showed her some of my favorite memories from when she was still sleeping, all of them containing either Holden or Katie. She laughed with me and cried with me, until I got up. I needed to write Holden a note. I pulled out the legal pad of paper I had found and a pen and started writing. After many mistakes and mark-throughs, I had what I wanted on the paper. It was covered with little tear drops on the paper the blurred some of the words, but not so much that you couldn't tell what they were.

I folded it and put in it my back pocket and went to get up.

"Where are you going Wendy?" Katie asked me softly and I turned around to look at her. She was sitting up in her bed with sleep in her eyes.

"Well," I walked over and sat beside her on her mattress. "I'm going away. And I'm going to miss you very much. I don't want you to miss me to much, and I want you to tell Holden that I will miss him, but for him not to miss me."

She looked at me. "I'll miss you Wendy," she hugged me tightly and more tears chased each other faster down my cheeks. I got up and she laid back down, I went over to Holden. He was laying with his arms tossed off the mattress and his feet were curled up to him. He was smiling in his sleep, which made me smiled a tad. I leant over and gave him a kiss quickly, wiping a stray tear that had fallen on his cheek. He sighed and rolled over.

I walked over to Russell and looked down at him. I gave him a kiss on the top of his head and held him to me as tears ran down my cheeks into his hair. I got up and walked out of the room.

"Bye Wendy," Katie called quietly and I looked back in the room.

"Bye Katie," I said and my voice broke. I walked quickly down the hallway, sobbing. I started running because I couldn't take it anymore.

_Wendy, thank you so much_, Leeann choked, she was crying too. _It means so much to me. I'm going to miss you so much. I don't want you to leave._

_I have to. You like Alex, and I can't be unfaithful to Holden. And you need your body back, I can't keep that from you._

_You are the sweetest person I have ever met. I'm going to hate it without you._

_You'll get used to it. Just please, help Holden and Katie get over it. I love you, Lincoln._

_I love you too, Wendy. I'll miss you so much. _I walked into Doc's office with tears streaking my face and wet hair. I sniffed and he looked up with a soft look on his face.

"You ready?" He looked at me and I nodded, sitting on the cot.

"Can you give this to Holden…after?" My stomach was twisting and I was ringing my hands as he nodded. It was no different from any other extraction, but knowing this was the last one was different. Doc gave me no pain first. I was still crying and he handed me some tissues.

"Thanks," I sniffed and wiped my face.

"You're welcome," he handed me a block of Sleep. I took it on my tongue and let it dissolve, but then I let it just sit in my mouth. I was starting to have second thoughts so I swallowed it quickly. My eyelids started to pull down and I shut them, blinking slowly. I heard loud footsteps running down the hallway.

Holden and Katie ran into the room and I started sobbing again. "No, I didn't want you to know yet."

"Wendy! How can you leave me," he cried and tears were running down his cheeks. Katie tied a rainbow colored ribbon around my wrist.

"I wanted something for you to remember me by. I didn't know your favorite color, so I just brought one with all of them," the fog of Sleep was closing in making it hard to concentrate.

"Thank you," I slurred and looked at Holden, I couldn't hang on any longer. "I love you," I put my hand on the side of his neck, closing my eyes.

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**A/N - **_I cried when I wrote this, FYI. Review please! -bitemark_


	23. Chapter 22 How did this happen?

**A/N - **_So, this is from Holden's point of view. I hope you guys like this, the story is almost over! -bitemark_

**Chapter 22**

"I love you," She slurred and closed her eyes, then let her hand drop. I turned around and ran my hands through my hair angrily. How could I have let this happen? I knew something was wrong but I didn't pursue it. Boy am I stupid.

I turned back around and Doc was turning her over, getting ready.

"How can you do this?" I yelled at him, not caring if I woke all of the people in these caves. "How can you _do_ this?"

"Holden, calm down." Doc said quietly and pulled out his tools. "I need your help."

"You're not taking her out of there! Wake her up right now!" I screamed. I heard footsteps and looked to see Ian, Jared, Melanie, and Wanda walk in. "Help me!" I yelled at them. "Stop him!"

"Holden," Wanda said and looked purposely at Katie. "We won't let her leave," I don't know who said the words, I was focused one Katie now. My brain was so scrambled I could only process one thing at a time, but these words seemed to calm me subconsciously. She was sitting on the bed holding Wendy's hand looking at me with wide eyes. I turned around and tried to calm down, wiping the shameful tears off my cheeks. I grew up learning men who cry are weak. I wiped away what I could and turned back to her.

"Katie," I said softly and gave her a hug. "I want you to go to Shannon's room and stay with her tonight." She nodded and padded off down the hallway. I turned back to all of them with tears streaming down my cheeks. "Please don't."

"Ian, get the cryotank. Now," Doc said as he was cutting into her neck. I walked over to the cot and held the hand that would soon be Leeann's again. I let the tears fall from my eyes and land softly on the cot as Doc delved deeper into her neck.

"How are you so calm?" I asked and looked around.

"We've been through this before," Wanda told me. "We're not going to let her die Holden."

"Here she is," Doc said and we all leaned over to see. All she was was a small silver strip in the back of Leeann's neck. It seemed so simple, but it took my breath away. She was beautiful. "Do you want to do the honor's Holden?"

"What do I do?" I said and moved closer. Then Doc's hands disappeared and Wanda's replaced them.

"Reach under her right here," she pointed to the place. I slid two fingers under Wendy and looked up at Wanda. "Now feel around for a little knuckle and put pressure on it. I did and watched what happened with my jaw on the floor.

She seemed to shrink in my hand as her many attachments drew back and flow out from her, creating a small cloud around her. They were so small and delicate I was scared to pull her out of Leeann's body, but Wanda instructed me to. She fanned out a little in my hand and I sighed looking at her. She moved as if gravity had no effect on her, and she weaved in and out of my fingers.

"Put her in the cryotank," Jared said and I slid her into the open tank Ian was holding. He shut it and handed it to me. I held it in my hands and gazed at her, admiring her beauty as she floated, almost frozen, in the cryotank. Tears slid silently down my cheeks.

"Give her some Awake!" I heard Mel say and turned around to see Doc already flipping Leeann back over. It was incredible how fast these new medicines could heal a person. Doc put one of the strips on her tongue lifting her head and pouring water in her mouth. After a few minutes her eyelashes fluttered and her lips moved. Then her eyes opened and there was silence.

"Leeann!" Melanie's arms flew around her and they hugged. They were both crying and laughing at the same time. Leeann's eyes darted around the room until the landed on me and my tear streaked cheeks.

"I'm sorry Holden," were the first words that left her mouth. She looked at the ribbon tied on her wrist and untied it, putting it in my hand. "I'm sorry," I looked down at the cryotank in my hands and the tears threatened to spill again.

"We're going to get a body tomorrow," Wanda informed me and I nodded.

"I want to go," Leeann said and everyone looked at her. They agreed.

"We'll let Jamie go too," Melanie said. "He's good at this kind of thing."

"Go get some sleep guys," Doc said and they all filed out. "Wait Holden," I turned around and looked at Doc. "Wendy wanted me to give this to you."

He handed me a folded peace of notebook paper. I thanked him and walked out of the hallway and was already unfolding the piece of paper before I walked into my room. I sat down on the bed and put Wendy in my lap, choking up again. I took a breath and turned on the flashlight we kept in the room and shined it on the paper.

_Dear Holden,_

_I know what I'm going to do is going to break your heart, and I hate myself for it. But I wanted a chance to explain why I'm doing this without telling you._

_By the time you're reading this, I should be gone and Leeann will probably be awake-if Doc honored my wishes, which I'm sure he will. I did this not only to give Leeann her body back, but because you don't need to love a murderer. I know you think differently, but I am. I took Leeann's body, dog, life, I even stole her first kiss. I know this will hurt for a while, but eventually you will be able to move on with your life and I hope Katie will do the same. _

_It was also hard to stay faithful with Leeann's influence, she doesn't love you like I do and I can't make her. I don't-didn't want you to be hurt by unfaithfulness. I did, do, and always will love you with all my heart and soul-my entire being, and I really hope you understand that. I know saying this is completely contradictory to being unfaithful and I don't expect you to understand that one bit. _

_I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I knew that if you would try to talk me out of it you would succeed, and Leeann needed her body and life back. I hope you won't hate me forever, but I understand if you do. _

_I love you with all of my being,_

_Wendy._

The paper was spotted with tiny tear drops that blurred some of the words. I was crying again and knew that this one girl that just happened to chance upon my life was a major weak spot. I laid my head on my pillow and pulled her close, feeling the cool outside of the tank against my cheek. I held the letter to my chest and closed my eyes, praying for a long and peaceful sleep.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Holden!" Someone was shaking me awake. "Hurry! We've got a body!"

I opened my eyes to see Ian shaking me awake, the sun shining through the crack in the ceiling silhouetting him. I jumped out of the bed and turned to him.

"How long have a I been asleep?" I looked at him groggily.

"Almost a day," Ian said hurriedly. "Come on, hurry up!"

"Go get Katie," he ran out of the room and I folded the piece of paper and put it in my safe box. I gently picked up the cryotank and cradled it to my chest, practically running to Doc's office. When I got there, the raid group was standing around a cot looking down. I walked over and they parted to reveal a beautiful girl lying on the cot.

She had the same dark brown hair as Leeann's, it was even curly like hers although a little darker; and long eyelashes that fell on her cheeks as her eyes were closed. She looked remarkably like Leeann, I couldn't believe it. I felt Katie pull at my shorts and I picked her up so she could see better.

"Who is that?" She asked me and looked down at the girl.

"That's about to be Wendy," I told her as Doc was flipping her over.

"Where's the bow I gave her?" she looked at me, then back at the girl.

"Right here," I pulled it out of my pocket and let it rest in my hand. She took it and tied it onto Wendy's new body. I smiled and set her on the cot. Doc was making the incision, and I covered Katie's eyes until he was ready for Wendy. Ian held open the tank and let Wendy slide into my hand.

"Do you want to hold Wendy?" I looked at Katie and she lit up when she laid eyes on Wendy. She cupped her hands and I put Wendy in them. We let her hold Wendy for a few minutes before I took her from Katie. "Watch this."

I took Wendy and put her at the new girls neck and let her slide into it, stretching out until she was just a thin sliver that we could barely see. Katie touched the back of the girl's neck as she watched on in amazement. Wendy stretched thinner and thinner until it looked like she might break and tears rolled down my eyes.

"Is she done?" Doc asked Wanda and she nodded. Doc closed her neck and spread Heal on it, the brushed some Scar powder on it. He flipped her back over and we watched.

"When is she supposed to wake up?" I asked Doc after a few minutes.

"It took Wanda a good thirty minutes or so. It should be soon," he told me. I sighed, getting impatient. I held one of her hands and rubbed smoothing circles on the back. After what seemed like forever, he eyes lids started twitching and her mouth opened and closed as if she was talking in her sleep.

"What's she doing?" Katie asked and looked at me.

"She's waking up," I said and turned back to watch. I smiled as her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water and the long eyelashes that lay on her cheeks fluttered as if dancing in an imaginary breeze.

She opened her eyes and I saw that they were brown, just like Leeann's. I loved her already, she was perfect.

**A/N - **_Well, I couldn't just kill her!_


	24. Chapter 23 Honey, I'm Home!

**A/N - **_Almost over guys! At this point, I don't think I'm going to have a sequel. At least not for a while. I have so many other ideas going on right now I think I need to concentrate on them right now. And I have exams...so that's taking alot out of me. Anyways...enjoy! -bitemark

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**Chapter 23**

"**The beginning would feel like the end. I'd been warned."**

_"Excuse me," A sweet voice sounded from behind me. I turned to see a small blond girl and a very tall brunette. "Could you show us where 45th street is?"_

_"Of course," I told her. "Go down this street and you can go through the park to the other side, and then you'll come right out to it. Do you need help with your bags?" Both she and the brunette were loaded with shopping bags. They nodded and I took some._

_"Thank you so much," the brunette said. "What's your name?"_

_"Sunlight Through Open Water," I told her and she smiled._

_"I've been a sea weed too, what forest were you in?" We made small talk as we walked down the sidewalk toward the park. We were almost there._

_"I was in the East Forest," I told her and she nodded._

_"I was right in the middle of the North Forest," she said. I smiled._

_"I always wanted to see that forest. I didn't catch your name," I said. We were about halfway through the park._

_"Oh! How rude of me!" The brunette said. "I'm Snowflake Float on Winds, and this is Tall Petals Cast Shadows."_

_"You both have very pretty names," I told them and they giggled. I laughed along with them._

_"Tall Petals!" I mans voice sounded right behind me. I jumped and turned around. "Oh! I'm sorry. I-"_

_A white mist was sprayed into my face and I inhaled, it smelled like lemons. My eyes closed and I couldn't open them again, but it felt good._

I sighed. What was this?

_Leeann? _Then it hit me. That was just it. I was out of Leeann and I was gone. Was this an afterlife? Why such a random memory? I was so disoriented. I felt a rough texture under my fingers and clenched around a thick fabric and listened to the crinkle, wondering why it sounded so familiar.

"Wendy?" I would recognize that deep voice any where I was, oriented or disoriented. I looked up to see clear green eyes looking back down at me. "Wendy."

Holden stared down at me and smiled, his bottom lip trembling and tears pooling in his eyes. He put a hand on the side of my face and pushed my hair back. Tears were streaming out of my new eyes as I leaned my cheek into Holden's hand. He swallowed as we just looked at each other. There was a soft cough and I looked around the room.

"I can't believe you tried to pull a Wanda," Jamie scoffed and rolled his eyes, joking. "So unoriginal." I laughed shakily and wiped at my face in vain. Holden took a tissue and wiped all the tears that spilled over my cheeks.

"Wendy!" Leeann wrapped her arms around me and was sobbing too. "Thank you so much."

"No offense," I said when she pulled away. "But it's nice to hear your voice outside my head." We laughed and I sat up so I could look around. There was Doc, Jamie, Wanda, Mel, Ian, Jared, Katie, Holden, and Leeann. I smiled.

"Look at this," Doc said and held up a mirror, positioning Leeann beside me so that our heads were touching. I gasped. We could have passed as sisters. We had the same dark brown hair, although mine a little more curly with a tad more volume. We both had big brown eyes and full lips with long slender noses. We smiled at the same time and laughed, acting like twins.

"I didn't know it was possible for two unrelated human's to look so alike," I said Leeann looked at me. She wrapped her arms around me in one more hug and then moved away. Katie bounded over to me and jumped onto the bed.

"You didn't tell me you were going to a new body!" She said and hugged me hard. I wrapped my arms around her little body and squeezed gently. She kissed my cheek and let me go. She fixed a bow on my wrist that I hadn't known was there. It was rainbow colored and contrasted nicely against my now pale skin.

"What's that?" I asked and she looked at me.

"It's a gift for you to remember me by if you ever leave again," her words cut my heart, she wouldn't have ever been the same if I had actually been gone. "I didn't know what your favorite color was, so I just got one that had all of the colors."

Her child-like simplicity and bluntness was refreshing and sweet, I smiled and my eyes immediately clouded over with tears as I gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Thank you so much."

"We couldn't just let you leave," Doc said. "And you never really said that you didn't want to be put in another body…so," Holden took the space where Katie had been after she jumped off the bed and ran out of the room.

"I'm not mad at you. I thought it was implied, but I'm glad you didn't catch it," Holden turned my face to him, demanding his turn. "But thank you, thank you, thank you." I repeated as I pulled his lips down to mine. He kissed this new body and lit me on fire, making me wrap my arms tight around him. He was my ice.

He pulled back eventually and we were both breathing hard, I noticed that the room was clear. I hugged myself tightly to him, and he pulled me closer than I thought was possible. I couldn't breathe, but I'd rather be suffocated then taken away from Holden. I was crying again, and the back my of shirt was damp from Holden's crying. He pulled back and I wiped away the tears that were streaming down his cheeks.

We were laughing and crying at the same time. "I'm sorry," I said. "I was being so stupid. Leeann just-"

"I know," he cut me off. "I'm not mad. I'm just so glad you're back here with me." He pulled me out of the bed and hugged me to him, swaying back and forth. "I never want to let you go again."

"I don't want you to let me go," I told him. He took me hand and led me out of the room, walking down the hallway. We walked into the dining hall where the little group had relocated. I looked around, I had never been in this room in the dark before. I looked through the cracks in the ceiling and caught sight of three lonesome stars. They twinkled and winked at me, smiling down on my return. I smiled as Holden tugged on my hand to keep me moving, I looked up once more in a farewell glance. We moved over to the table and set down, making midnight snack.

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**A/N - **_Well, there you go!_


	25. Chapter 24 Epilogue

**A/N - **_So, this is just a little epilogue thing. It's basically maybe one or two little one shots put together for you guys. So, have fun! -bitemark

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_

**Chapter 24**

I woke up in Holden's arms, and he was staring down at me. I blushed, something I didn't shed with leaving Leeann's body, and smiled timidly.

"What's wrong?" I asked and he chuckled.

"You mumble in your sleep now. And you twitch," he said and brushed some hair out of my face. I scooted myself closer to him and rested my head in the crook of his neck. I breathed on his skin and he shivered slightly, making me smile.

"I'm sorry," I told him for the thousandth time.

"Please stop apologizing. You were just trying to do the right thing," He sighed. "Please stop apologizing. You're making me feel bad."

"I'm sorry," I said and giggled when I realized what I had said. He sighed again and kissed my forehead.

"I held you. I took you out of Leeann and put you in this body," Holden told me. "You were so beautiful, like a little wisp of cloud all for me. Katie saw you too, and held you."

"You didn't think I was disgusting? Like a worm?' I asked him. He kissed me softly.

"How could I ever think you were disgusting?" he looked at me like I had just suggested we go drown in the hot spring. I smiled.

"Well, just the nickname 'centipedes', I could tell humans didn't like us from Leeann's memory," I told him and he flinched.

"Look, I'm sorry about all that. And about your - well, Leeann's foot. I…was immature," he said. I smiled and kissed him lightly.

"You matured in a couple of months?" he asked him as he played with my new hair.

"Yes," he told me. "I did as a matter of fact."

"Sing me to sleep," I told him and snuggled into his chest. He took a deep breath and started singing softly to me, the song he sang to me once with his guitar. "What's it called? I like it a lot."

"It's just a lullaby. I wrote it," he told me. "But I think I've thought of a name."

"What were you thinking?" I asked him and he smiled.

"Wendy's Song," he told me and kissed my forehead.

"I like it."

"Wendy? Holden?" I rolled over to see Katie sitting up in her bed. I got up and crawled over to her and Holden followed me. I crawled into her bed and she clung to me.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" I asked when I noticed she was crying.

"I had a bad dream," she told me. Holden wrapped his arm's around us.

"What happened?" I asked her. She struggled to calm down.

"A seeker came and took everyone away and I was all by myself!" She laid her head back on the pillow and shut her eyes. "Will you lay with me?"

"Of course," Holden said and positioned himself so that Katie was in between us. Katie was visibly upset about Seekers coming to take everyone, so Holden started singing my song again. I smiled with my arms around Katie, her tears wet the side of my neck and shirt. We fell asleep in the safety of Holden's arms.

* * * * * * * * * * *

I woke up to Katie shifting in my arms and settled back down. She stirred again and woke up, then got up and went to use the bathroom. I got out of bed and completed my morning routine and walked into the dining hall.

Holden was already in there with Katie eating. I walked over and sat down, just looking at Katie. The dream last night she had was bothering me, she shouldn't live terrified that a Seeker is going to find us and take us away from her. She should be a kid and just live with no worries.

"Good morning," Holden kissed the side of my head. I smiled and put my hand over his. People started trickling in the room and sat down. The room filled with chatter about the day and got pretty loud. I looked around the room and smiled. Out of all the worlds I had been to, I had found my family. I had found what I would die for.

When everyone finished we got up to go work, and Mel pulled me aside.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked and I nodded.

"Sure, what's up?"

"I just wanted to thank you for giving me my friend back. It means so much that you would even let us use you for dissection, although we never would now. Just, thank you," she told me.

"You're welcome. I'm glad I could help her out. It's what we souls strive to do," I told her and she smiled. She linked her arm with mine and we walked down to the fields. Leeann, Mel, and I were putting in the seeds of yet another batch of crops, the last before the fall. The rainy season was about to begin, so everything was packed up and ready to move into the game room if need be.

"Hey guys! Hurry!" Leeann had already started and was falling behind fast by herself. Mel and I ran over there to help, grabbing a packet of seeds and running to help her. We caught up quickly.

"You know," Leeann stated. "I've been thinking."

"Oh my gosh! Very good!" Melanie teased and Leeann kicked her. I laughed at their nonsense.

"Anyway!" I barged in, "What were you thinking?"

"We need to give you a car name. And Wanda too," she said.

"That's a great idea!" Melanie said. "What can we give Wendy?"

"How about Windstar?" Leeann threw out.

"Isn't that a mini van?" I wrinkled my nose.

"Yes, but still. It's a car name," she said and looked at me. She knew that I knew that a car name was an honor. I smiled.

"I love it," I told them. "Minivans are good.

"Yeah, we can keep thinking though," Mel said. "But what for Wanda? That's a hard one."

"It is. We can ask one of the guys later…I'll keep thinking about it," she said.

"Maybe you can ask Allllllex!" Mel teased and I smiled. I was glad I could give them their friendship back. It was good to see them go back and forth, even if it was a little childish.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Goodnight," I told Katie and pulled the covers up over her, tucking them under her chin. She smiled and burrowed under them to get comfortable.

"Goodnight Katie-bug," Holden called from our bed. He was so tired I told him I'd tuck Katie in. She bid him a goodnight and I walked over to our bed and snuggled in with Holden. He kissed me lightly and I smiled, happy to be in a body with no influence or awakenings. Then, a drop fell onto my face. I touched it and looked up at Holden's face, thinking maybe he were upset about something.

When my eyes found his face, he had his eyes closed and was peaceful. Another drop landed on my face, then another, and another. I looked up at the crack in the ceiling and saw that I couldn't see the stars.

As if a tap had been turned on, rain started pouring through the cracks and everyone was soaked within seconds. I got up, laughing, as Holden jumped out of the bed and faint screams sounded throughout the caves over the roar of the rain. We grabbed our stuff and ran to the game room with everyone else.

When everyone was settled I looked around the room to see everyone with someone else. I smiled as I looked around, I had found my place. My home.

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**A/N - **_Well, there you go! I think at some point I will post a little chapter with an author's note for dedications and stuff._


	26. Author's Note

From:

**I should not have come walking. **

To:

**I smiled as I looked around, I had found my place. My home.**

Well, dear faithful readers, the end of the story has come. I'm just going to write this little author's note for some little fun facts about Lincoln and for some dedications, thanks, and such. So, I would like to think all my friends back home that always encourage my writing and tell me I should be an author and always wanting to read the new things I write. Thanks to TopKat90 (Is that right Kat?) for faithfully reading and reviewing every single one of my chapters. I love you Kat :D

I'm going to dedicate this story to those who read it. So If you're reading this and you've read all the chapters, this story is for you :D Thank you.

Fun Facts:

Words :34,037

Pages : 101

Any thing else you guys wanna know?

PS. Sorry this is so late...I got caught up with the end of school and such. As of right now I think I might wait a while to look into doing a sequel and work on some of my other ideas...but I'll be around the site. So, see you guys later! I LOVE YOU ALL.

-Lauren aka. xbitemark


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